In recent years, more and more original picture books have been created and published, most of which are traditional cultural themes, and some are more sensational, and even deliberately "gratitude education" for children. However, few people have created popular picture books. It is probably related to the knowledge structure of the children's book author. The creation of popular science picture books requires the author to have scientific literacy and the skills to effectively integrate scientific knowledge into children's book creation. Therefore, when I read the "Meng Xiaoya Science Popular Science Picture Book" series created by Jilin children's literature writer Dou Jing, I feel refreshed. This is a set of children's books that are similar to general children's books and have similar styles. Its binding design is not exquisite, but it is very suitable for family parent-child reading.
This picture book has three main characteristics: First, the stories in the book are close to children's lives. "My Mouse's Birthday Gift", "Miss Pig Eats Sand", "Two Slow Friends", "Reed Chicken Who Want to Be Mom", "The Bed I Can't Get Out", "The Village's Popular Donkey Rolling", "Kitten Dika Cuts the Beard", "Good Night Chicken"... As soon as you read the title of the book, you will know that these stories are suitable for young children, and of course they are also suitable for children in lower grades of primary school. Because these stories are related to their lives, involving living habits, interactions with people, family interactions and ways of living, after reading them, you can not only feel and understand life, but also learn to interact, which has the value of a behavioral education textbook. From this point of view, the readers of the "Meng Xiaoya Science Popular Picture Book" series are very accurate in positioning. They do not pursue the so-called suitable content for both young and old, but only do the most suitable content for young children. Don’t play external games fancy and create and edit with the attitude of “content is king”.
Second, the theme expression of picture books is integrated with scientific knowledge education. When creating popular science children's literature works and editing popular science children's books, you must understand what "popular science" is. "Popular science" is different from "science fiction". Popular science pays more attention to the transmission of scientific knowledge. Therefore, when reading popular science works, the important thing is to learn popular science knowledge, and the promotion of scientific imagination is not a goal that must be pursued. From this point of view, the artistic goal setting of this picture book is also very accurate. It is to use stories to convey scientific knowledge and achieve the effect of popularizing science. Therefore, in the eyes of the author and editor, the story comes first. Tell the story first, make the story interesting, and of course, try to pursue humor. On this basis, integrate scientific knowledge points into the story, let the image inside speak, express it, and bring young readers into the world of popular science. For example, the story of "The Kitten Deka Cuts the Beard" conveys a knowledge point about the cat's beard; "Miss Pig Eats Sand" tells young readers why donkeys and other animals like to roll on the ground.
Third, picture books are attractive to fairy tales and sitcoms as a whole. Children like to listen to fairy tales, like anthropomorphic images, and like exaggerated language and actions. The language of the "Meng Xiaoya Science Popular Picture Book" series is quite funny and simple. It can be understood by adults when they read it. The various fairy tale images also represent the various characteristics and behavioral methods of young children, making them feel that they are similar and similar to their own thinking and behavior. In addition, each story is like a sitcom. If parents have certain reading skills, they can also perform in conjunction with action when reading it. In this way, every time they read a story, it seems that they are playing a word game or a parent-child drama with their children. Of course, if kindergarten teachers have certain ability to adapt dramas, this set of books is also very suitable to adapt them into science popularization small dramas. The props in them are simple and can be found in daily life, and there is no need to spend extra money to buy them. This is also the difference between the "Meng Xiaoya Science Popular Picture Book" series and other young children's books. It is not only suitable for children in lower grades of primary school reading, but also suitable for parent-child reading. Of course, it can also be developed and utilized in secondary dramas.
"Meng Xiaoya Popular Science Picture Book" series has a knowledge page after each volume. Parents should not waste this page when reading parent-child. After sharing the story with their children, it is best to tell the children about knowledge points to increase their understanding of knowledge, and also satisfy their curiosity.
(The author is a professor at the School of Literature of Shanghai University)
"China Education Daily" 4th edition
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