Sample book review (1)

A Review of Once a Mouse by Marcia BrownBaoya ZhangBrown, Marcia. (1961). Once a mouse…a fable cut in wood. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.As is suggested by the title, the 1962 Caldecott Medal winner Once a mouse…a fable cut in wood by Marcia Brown falls into the category of picture story books. The book tells an ancient Indian story in which a mystical hermit, mighty at magic, rescues a wretched little mouse from the beak of a hungry crow, and later transforms it into a stout cat, a big dog, and finally a royal tiger when it is threatened by a cat, a dog, and a tiger. The mouse becomes increasingly vain as it changes into larger and larger creatures and the hermit has to turn it back to its original state when it wants to kill him.This book is what a picture story book can be. As far as the content is concerned, with the subject of the evils of pride, it is appropriate for and appealing to very young children. Textwise, the number of words on each page is kept to a minimum. It is indeed a big theme with few words. The clearly patterned plot makes the story highly predictable so that when being read to, children will actively problem-solve. For all the predictability, suspense is nevertheless abundant due to the way the text is written and arranged on the pages. Consequently children’s interest will be held from the beginning to the very end.What contributes most to the superb quality of this book, however, is the illustrations that are in perfect harmony with the text. The dramatic color woodcuts achieve a fluidity of motion rarely found in the medium. Minimal as the test is, the illustrations create so clear a story line that a preliterate child will find the story easy to follow. The bold clear designs of the principle figure, the animals, and the landscape backgrounds are well created by simple masses so imaginative in concept that the woodcuts alone are a treasure of fine art. In rich jungle colors, the story of the rise and fall of the mouse is completed and extended by the pictures. The yellow green of sun through leaves and of earth, the dark green shadows, and the red that is mixed with other colors, all are compatible to the life in a forest, and help convey the mood well. Also the occasional use of visual metaphor reinforces the drama of the mouse. And even the natural texture of the long-grained plank is preserved to add depth and interesting patterns to the dramatic illustrations and help convey the mood.Other factors that lead to the high quality of the book include its powerfully attractive jacket, a nice appropriate format and a typeface that matches the illustrations.Compared with her soft delicate drawings in curved pen lines and gouache for Cinderella, the strength and rhythm that the beautiful boldly stylized woodcuts for this book possess are just outstanding.This book deserves an honorable place in the treasure house of picture story books. It makes a great read-aloud for very young children who will definitely find great pleasure in the transformations of the mouse into ever more terrifying animals and the wonderful changes of expression on the tiger’s faces as their emotions toward each other change. But for older children, much delight will be derived from both their visual experience of the work and their discovery of the profound meaning embedded in the seemingly simple story.作者自译:评玛西娅·布朗的《从前有只老鼠》张保亚Brown, Marcia. (1961). Once a mouse…a fable cut in wood. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.如书名所示，玛西娅·布朗的1962年度凯迪克奖获奖作品《刻在木板上的寓言故事：从前有只老鼠》，是一部图画故事书。

这是一个古印度的故事: 一个精通魔法的隐士将一只可怜的小老鼠从一只饥肠辘辘的乌鸦嘴里救出来。

后来小老鼠相继受到猫、狗、和虎的威胁，隐士把它变成一只壮猫、一条大狗，和一只巨虎，一一应付过去。

随着自己变成越来越大的动物，老鼠也渐渐自高自大起来。

最后，它竟然要伤害隐士，隐士只好把它还原成一只小老鼠。

该书堪称图画书之极品。

故事以自负的罪恶为主题，内容适合幼儿，对他们颇具吸引力。

在配文方面，每一页上的文字均控制在最低限度，主题宏大却寥寥数语。

程式化的情节赋予了故事极高可预测性，给幼儿朗读，他们会积极推测下文。

但是，极高的可预测性并不妨碍悬念的设置。

独具匠心的配文措辞及其页面分布使得故事充满悬念，从头到尾保持了孩子的兴趣。

然而，该书完美的品质更在于它与文字配合得天衣无缝的画面。

一幅幅的彩色木刻生动有力，而表现出的运动的流畅性在木刻艺术领域实属罕见。

尽管把文字控制在最低限度，配图却清晰地揭示出故事线索，尚未发蒙的幼儿也不难理解。

简单的大片色彩，富于想象的概念所塑造的主要角色、各种动物以及地形环境，图案粗犷而明晰，仅就木刻作品而论，也算是美术中的珍品。

图画对老鼠的兴衰故事的完善和延伸，还依赖其丰富的丛林色彩。

透过树叶的阳光的黄绿色，土地的黄绿色，影子的深绿色，还有各种层次的红色，真实地反映了丛林里的生活，烘托了故事的气氛。

另外，偶尔使用视觉比喻也有助于加强老鼠变化的戏剧性。

即便是木版本身的长长的纹理也被保留下来，给生动的画面赋予了深度和饶有趣味风格，同时又有助于气氛的渲染。

此外，该书的上乘品质还归功于它引人入胜的护封、大小恰当的版式以及与图画协调一致的配文字体。

与作者以柔和、细腻的曲线和树胶水彩为《灰姑娘》绘制的配图相比，该书美丽、粗犷、风格化的木刻图却以力量和节奏感为突出特征。

该书在图画故事的宝库中应该具有崇高的地位。

它是一部向幼儿朗读的佳作，毫无疑问，从老鼠摇身一变成为越来越恐怖的动物的过程之中，从两只老虎较量时对对方态度的变化引起的面部表情的奇妙的变化的过程之中，他们可以找到极大的乐趣。