内容简介
Best Friends Forever.
There are lots of children on Hill Street, but no little girls Betsy's age. So when a new family moves into the house across the street, Betsy hopes they will have a little girl she can play with. Sure enough, they do—a little girl named Tacy. And from the moment they meet at Betsy's fifth birthday party, Betsy and Tacy becoms such good friends that everyone starts to think of them as one person—Betsy-Tacy.
Betsy and Tacy have lots of fun together. They make a playhouse from a piano box, have a sand store, and dress up and go calling. And one day, they come home to a wonderful surprise—a new friend named Tib.
Ever since their first publication in the 1940's, the Betsy-Tacy stories have been loved by each generation of young readers.
作者简介
Maud Hart Lovelace (1892-1980) based her Betsy-Tacy series on her own childhood. Her series still boasts legions of fans, many of whom are members of the Betsy-Tacy Society, a national organization based in Mankato, Minnesota.
精彩书评
"I read every one of these Betsy-Tacy-Tib books twice. I loved them as a child, as a young adult, and now, reading them with my daughter, as a mother. What a wonderful world it was!"
-- Bette Midler, actor and singer
精彩书摘
Chapter One
Betsy Meets Tacy
It was difficult, later, to think of a time when Betsy and Tacy had not been friends. Hill Street came to regard them almost as one person. Betsy's brown braids went with Tacy's red curls, Betsy's plump legs with Tacy's spindly ones, to school and from school, up hill and down, on errands and in play. So that when Tacy had the mumps and Betsy was obliged to make her journeys alone, saucy boys teased her: "Where's the cheese, apple pie?" "Where's your mush, milk?" As though she didn't feel lonesome enough already! And Hill Street knew when Sunday came, even without listening to the rolling bells, for Betsy Ray and Tacy Kelly (whose parents attended different churches), set off down Hill Street separately, looking uncomfortable and strange.
But on this March afternoon, a month before Betsy's fifth birthday, they did not know each other. They had not even seen each other, unless Betsy had glimpsed Tacy, without knowing her for Tacy, among the children of assorted sizes moving into the house across the street. Betsy had been kept in because of bad weather, and all day she had sat with her nose pasted to the pane. It was exciting beyond words to have a family with children moving into that house.
Hill Street was rightfully named. It ran straight up into a green hill and stopped. The name of the town was Deep Valley, and a town named Deep Valley naturally had plenty of hills. Betsy's house, a small yellow cottage, was the last house on her side of Hill Street, and the rambling white house opposite was the last house on that side. So of course it was very important. And it had been empty ever since Betsy could remember.
"I hope whoever moves in will have children," Betsy's mother had said.
"Well, for Pete's sake!" said Betsy's father. "Hill Street is so full of children now that Old Mag has to watch out where she puts her feet down."
"I know," said Betsy's mother. "There are plenty of children for Julia." (Julia was Betsy's sister, eight years old.) "And there are dozens of babies. But there isn't one little girl just Betsy's age. And that's what I'm hoping will come to the house across the street."
That was what Betsy hoped, too. And that was what she had been watching for all day as she sat at the dining room window. She was certain there must be such a little girl. There were girls of almost every size and boys to match, milling about the moving dray and in and out of the house. But she wasn't sure. She hadn't absolutely seen one.
She had watched all day, and now the dining room was getting dark. Julia had stopped practicing her music lesson, and Mrs. Ray had lighted the lamp in the kitchen.
The March snow lay cold and dirty outside the window, but the wind had died down, and the western sky, behind the house opposite, was stained with red.
The furniture had all been carried in, and the dray was gone. A light was shining in the house. Suddenly the front door opened, and a little girl ran out. She wore a hood beneath which long red ringlets spattered out above her coat. Her legs in their long black stockings were thin.
It was Tacy, although Betsy did not know it!
She ran first to the hitching block, and bounced there on her toes a minute, looking up at the sky and all around. Then she ran up the road to the point where it ended on the hill. Some long-gone person had placed a bench there. It commanded the view down Hill Street. The little girl climbed up on this bench and looked intently into the dusk.
"I know just how she feels," thought Betsy with a throb. "This is her new home. She wants to see what it's like." She ran to her mother.
"Mamma!" she cried. "There's the little girl my age. Please let me go out! Just a minute! Please!"
Mrs. Ray was moved by the entreaty. She looked out at the colored sky.
"It does seem to be clearing up," she said. "But you could only stay a minute. Do you want to go to the bother of putting on your things . . ."
"Oh, yes, yes!"
"Overshoes and mittens and everything?"
"Yes, really!"
Betsy flew to the closet, but she could not find her pussy hood. The mittens were twisted on the string inside her coat.
"Mamma! Help me! Please! She'll be gone."
"Help her, Julia," called Betsy's mother, and Julia helped, and at last the pussy hood was tied, and the coat buttoned, and the overshoes buckled, and the mittens pulled on.
Outside the air was fresh and cold. The street lamp had been lighted. It was exciting just to be out at this hour, even without the prospect of meeting the new little girl. But the new little girl still stood on the bench looking down the street.
Betsy ran toward her. She ran on the sidewalk as far as it went. Then she took to the frozen rutty road, and she had almost reached the bench when the little girl saw her.
"Hello!" called Betsy. "What's your name?"
The other child made no answer. She jumped off the bench.
"Don't go!" cried Betsy. "I'm coming."
But the other child without a word began to run. She brushed past Betsy on her headlong flight down the hill. She ran like a frightened rabbit, and Betsy ran in pursuit.
"Wait! Wait!" Betsy panted as she ran. But the new child would not stop. On fleet, black-stockinged legs she ran, faster than Betsy could follow.
"Wait! Wait!" pleaded Betsy but the child did not turn her head. She gained her own lawn, floundered through the snow to her house.
The entrance to her house was through a storm shed. She ran into this and banged the door. The door had a pane of glass in the front, and through that pane she stared fearfully at Betsy.
前言/序言
探寻书海:精选儿童文学导览 引言:打开想象力的闸门 阅读,是孩子与世界对话最美妙的方式。它不仅是获取知识的途径,更是培养同理心、激发创造力和构建独立思考能力的基石。本导览将带领您深入探访一系列专为八岁及以上儿童精心挑选的优秀文学作品。这些书籍涵盖了冒险、奇幻、历史、日常生活观察等多个主题,旨在为小读者提供丰富多样的阅读体验,让他们在文字构建的世界中自由翱翔。我们将侧重于那些在叙事技巧、角色塑造和思想深度上表现卓越的作品,帮助家长和教育工作者发掘那些真正能够滋养心灵、拓展视野的宝贵读物。 第一部分:经典奇幻与宏大叙事 对于步入高年级小读者而言,高质量的奇幻文学是他们心智成长的绝佳催化剂。这类作品往往设定复杂的魔法系统、引人入胜的故事情节和深刻的道德主题。 《纳尼亚传奇》系列(The Chronicles of Narnia) C.S. 刘易斯构建的纳尼亚世界,是一个充满魔法、会说话的动物和古老预言的王国。这个系列不仅仅是关于孩子们意外闯入另一个世界的冒险故事,它更深层次地探讨了勇气、牺牲、忠诚与背叛的主题。从《狮子、女巫与魔衣橱》中对纯粹善意的描绘,到《凯斯宾王子》中对历史责任的承担,刘易斯巧妙地将复杂的哲学概念融入到引人入胜的冒险叙事中。小读者在跟随佩文西四兄妹的旅程时,不仅体验了扣人心弦的战斗场面,更重要的是,他们开始理解复杂的人性冲突以及面对困难时应有的坚韧品质。刘易斯的语言典雅又不失清晰,非常适合培养青少年对经典文学的鉴赏力。 《地海传说》系列(The Earthsea Cycle) 厄休拉·K. 勒古恩的《地海传说》系列是奇幻文学领域中一座难以逾越的高峰。不同于许多强调光明与黑暗二元对立的作品,勒古恩的作品更加关注平衡、知识的代价以及个体责任的重量。主角格得(Ged)从一个鲁莽的学徒成长为一代法师的过程,充满了对自我阴影的面对与接纳。书中对魔法本质的探讨——即“真名”的力量与限制——为读者提供了一种更深层次的思考维度:真正的力量并非滥用能力,而是对自身局限性的深刻认知。这个系列的叙事节奏沉稳,哲学思辨性强,对于那些开始寻求更具内涵故事的八岁以上读者来说,是极佳的选择。 第二部分:现实主义与成长阵痛 并非所有的优秀文学都栖息于魔法王国。许多深刻的作品根植于我们所生活的世界,细腻地描绘了孩子在成长过程中必须面对的挑战、友谊的考验以及自我认同的建立。 当代青少年小说(Contemporary Middle Grade Fiction) 这个类别的作品往往关注家庭动态、校园生活、友谊的复杂性,以及如何在复杂的人际关系中找到自己的位置。 例如,一些优秀作品会聚焦于处理家庭变故,如父母离异或亲人离世,引导小读者以健康的方式处理悲伤和不确定性。这类小说通常采用第一人称叙事,让孩子们能够轻松地与主角建立情感共鸣。它们强调沟通的重要性,展示了即使在最困难的情况下,真诚的对话也能成为修复关系的桥梁。角色往往是多元且有缺陷的,这使得孩子们明白,完美并不存在,接纳不完美才是成长的标志。 另一个常见的焦点是“归属感”。许多八岁以上的孩子开始感受到社交压力,渴望融入群体,或为自己的“怪癖”感到不安。这类小说通过塑造那些同样与众不同但最终找到自己位置的主角,向读者传递了强大的信息:独特性是一种力量而非弱点。成功的现实主义小说不会回避冲突,但会以成熟的方式展示解决冲突的过程——通常涉及耐心、同理心和适度的妥协。 第三部分:历史的低语与传记的力量 将历史融入故事中,可以使抽象的年代概念变得鲜活可感。高质量的历史小说能够带领年轻读者“穿越时空”,亲身体验过去时代的生活和挑战。 历史背景下的冒险与挑战 这类作品往往将一个虚构或半虚构的主角置于重大的历史事件背景下,例如二战时期的欧洲、美国西进运动时期,或是古代文明的兴衰。关键在于,故事的驱动力必须是角色的个人奋斗,而非教科书式的事件罗列。 例如,描绘特定历史时期的小说,会细致入微地呈现当时的衣食住行、社会规范和普遍的道德困境。通过主角的视角,孩子们可以理解“局外人”的感觉,或者体验在巨大社会变革面前,个体所能做出的选择。这些故事通过人性化的视角,让历史不再是冰冷的日期和名字,而是充满情感和教训的真实生活片段。它们培养了历史意识,更重要的是,教会了孩子们在不同文化和时代背景下保持批判性思考的能力。 人物传记的艺术:从榜样中汲取力量 除了虚构叙事,针对青少年的传记作品也至关重要。好的传记不是简单地罗列伟人的成就,而是聚焦于他们人生中的关键转折点、他们如何克服早期的失败、以及他们坚持不懈的动力源泉。 对于八岁以上的读者,传记应侧重于展示“过程”而非“结果”。例如,描述一位科学家如何经历无数次失败才获得突破,或者一位社会活动家如何从小处着手推动变革。这种叙事方式潜移默化地教导孩子,伟大的成就往往是无数次不为人知的努力和韧性的累积。通过阅读这些真实的人生故事,孩子们能够内化“毅力”和“奉献”的价值,将榜样的力量转化为自己学习和生活的动力。 第四部分:科学、逻辑与解谜的乐趣 对于逻辑思维能力正在快速发展的年龄段,涉及科学概念、逻辑推理和解谜元素的故事极具吸引力。 科学幻想与逻辑推理的结合 优秀的科幻作品,即使是面向青少年的,也应建立在合理的科学(或伪科学)基础之上,并以此为框架探索伦理困境或未来的可能性。这类故事鼓励孩子们提出“如果……会怎样?”的问题,并尝试通过逻辑推演来预测后果。 例如,涉及时间旅行或平行宇宙的作品,能极好地训练孩子理解因果关系和多重变量的影响。叙事者需要清晰地设定规则,并严格遵守这些规则,这本身就是对读者逻辑思维的挑战和训练。 同时,侦探小说和解谜故事也是这一类别的重要组成部分。成功的谜题故事需要作者精心布局线索和误导信息。读者必须主动地参与到分析信息、排除可能性和形成假设的过程中。这类阅读体验极大地增强了孩子的专注力和细节观察能力。他们学会了区分事实与推测,这是未来学习和解决复杂问题不可或缺的能力。 结语:选择的智慧 为八岁及以上的孩子选择书籍,核心在于平衡“趣味性”与“启发性”。我们希望他们沉浸于故事,同时也希望他们能从故事中有所领悟、有所成长。本导览所推荐的这些类型和风格的文学作品,旨在提供一个坚实的基础,鼓励孩子们探索书籍世界的广阔与深邃,培养他们终身阅读的习惯与对知识的渴求。真正的阅读乐趣,在于发现那些超越故事情节本身的意义,并在这些文字中找到属于自己的声音与力量。