大家好，趁着我家小宝还在睡觉，我可以好好给大家介绍一本凯迪克获奖绘本。
这本书的名字是SNOWFLAKE BENTLEY.
此书首先抓住我的，不是因为她获得了凯迪克大奖。而是故事的首句：“In the days when farmers worked with ox and sled and cut the dark with lantern light, there lived a boy who loved snow more than anything else in the world.” 我喜欢这句话的“cut the dark”。我认为用“cut the dark”来表明“点亮黑暗”是妙笔。
接下来，说说mitten这个词。Mitten的英文解释是：a type of glove that covers the four fingers together and the thumb separately.中文意思是“连指手套”。
Glove也是我们熟知的手套，英文解释 “a covering for the hand, made of wool, leather, etc.with separate parts for each finger and the thumb(分手指的)手套。
雪花人住在Vermont(佛蒙特州)。这是美国东北部新英格兰州之一。乳品业和采石业在经济中占显著地位。20世纪30年代第一条滑雪跑道建成，60年代冬季旅游业发展起来。
故事说，雪花儿(snowflake)会落在Bentley的手套(mitten)上，佛蒙特的农场(farm)里，粮仓(barn)的门把儿(handle)上。
Bentley认为，雪花像蝴蝶(butterfly)和苹果花(apple blossom)一样美。
接下来，作者说Bentley会用网捕捉蝴蝶给哥哥看，摘花儿送给妈妈。但是他却不能和大伙儿分享雪花，因为他不知道如何保存雪花。在这句话里，作者用了net做动词。“to catch sth in a net”用网捕捉。
Bentley的妈妈有一个microscope显微镜(an instrument used in scientific study for making very small things look larger so that you can examine them carefully)。Bentley喜欢拿显微镜观察花儿，雨滴(raindrop)和叶片(blade)。看到这里，我决定给小宝买一个显微镜。查了一下淘宝，还真是不少孩子用的显微镜呢。为礼物发愁的妈妈们，现在有东西送啦。
当别的孩子用雪堆城堡(fort)，朝栖息着的(roosting)乌鸦(crow)扔雪球(pelt snowball)时，Bentley在收集雪花。这句话中，涉及好几个SSAT(美国中考)应该掌握的词汇。
第一个：fort堡垒；要塞：a building or buildings built in order to defend an area against attack;
第二个：roost(鸟类的)栖息处a place where birds sleep;动词，栖息to rest or go to sleep somewhere;
第三个：crow乌鸦a large bird, completely or mostly black, with a rough unpleasant cry;
第四个：pelt：to attack sb by throwing things at them向...投掷;例句：The children pelted him with snowballs.孩子们向他投掷雪球。
每片雪花，都有复杂的(intricate)图案(pattern)。美丽的程度，让Bentley难以想象。(more beautiful than he had imagined.)
本书作者Jacqueline不忘在书里提到“分享”的理念：Willie decided he must find a way to save snowflakes so others could see their wonderful designs.
还有“想到就要去做”的理念：For three winters he tried drawing snow crystals. They always melted before he could finish.
Bentley想把雪花的美和大家分享，所以就开始画雪花。可是还没画完呢，雪花就融化(melt)了。
后来，Bentley从书上知道世界上有“camera”这个东西，(所以读书很重要啊)所以他希望自己拥有一台照相机。妈妈很支持。爸爸说“Fussing with snow is just foolishness.”在这里，Jacqueline也不忘加上一句很动人的话 “Still, he loved his son.”尽管爸爸不太支持，但是父母最后还是给Bentley买了一台相机。读到这里，让我想起了野兽派的画家Martisse，波普艺术的著名代表Andy Warhol等等。这些人的妈妈，都非常支持孩子的爱好，和Bentley的妈妈一样。爸爸们虽然没有特别支持，但是没有强烈反对，使得孩子爱好夭折)
接下来是我觉得作者和插图画家比较高明的一点，把相机的价格和高度，和农场的牛做对比：It was taller than a newborn calf, and cost as much as his father’s herd of ten cows. Willie was sure it was the best of all cameras.
有了照相机，也不是大功告成哦。失败接着失败。最终，他拍好了一张美丽的雪花图片。
农场的人们对Bentley的行为很不解。他们认为“Snow in Vermont is as common as dirt” “we do not need pictures”佛蒙特的雪就和土一样常见。我们不需要照片。后来我查了一下资料。Bentley兴致勃勃地想给大伙儿看雪花照片的那天晚上，只有6个人到场。不过有6个人也不错了。
后来，Bentley做讲座，在杂志上发表照片，出书。但是从来没有致富。不过他不在乎。因为他原本就是因为喜欢雪花才去拍摄雪花。是否能带来经济收益，不是决定他是否继续拍摄下去的因素。(By 1926 he had spent $15,000 on his work and received $4,000 from the sale of photographs and slides.)
结局比较悲伤：Less than a month after turning the first page on his book, Willie walked six miles home in a blizzard(暴风雪) to make more pictures. He became ill with pneumonia(肺炎) after that walk and died two weeks later.
只能怪当时的医疗太落后。
看完这个故事之后，我又上网查了一些资料。有一段话让我印象深刻：Although Bentley’s inner drive to know and understand was exceedingly strong, and he was capable of spending many long and lonely years in this pursuit, he needed someone in the world of science with whom he could share the excitement of crossing the frontiers of knowledge. The creative person cannot work forever in a vacuum;he must communicate and interact with his peers. Bentley did not have this interaction, and this may have been the reason why he did little creative work after about 1910.
一个人，不管你多么地能干，也是需要和人交流的。交流产生进步。我相信是这样。
如果妈妈身边恰好有这本绘本，给孩子讲起来吧！
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We teach English, but we also maintain Chinese customs and cultures. Besides academic performance, we also attach great importance to personality. Our goal is 'Empowering Children for Life'. We set the bar high here. Eventually, you will acquire knowledge, self-esteem, social responsibility, and the critical thinking and communication skills necessary for global citizenship and lifelong learning.
我们着力于高质量的幼儿英语启蒙，把高端英语渗透在孩子生活中，潜移默化学习；并在提供英语知识的同时，注重培养他们的优秀品质：比如不盲从，不偏信，善于表达，勇于挑战，乐于分享等等。
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