美国国家公共电台 NPR Children's Book Author Natalie Babbitt Dies At 84

Children's Book Author Natalie Babbitt Dies At 84 

play pause stop mute unmute max volume 00:0002:24repeat repeat off Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser¹ to a recent version or update your Flash plugin. ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: 

Now we're going to remember the children's book writer Natalie Babbitt, who died yesterday at her home in Connecticut. She was famous for exposing kids to big, difficult concepts like death.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

NATALIE BABBITT: Your favorite dog or cat is run over in the street - your grandmother. It's around us all the time. And why adults think they have to hide all of that stuff - I think are quite wrong.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: 

Natalie Babbitt's best-known book was "Tuck Everlasting²." In it, a girl named Winnie meets a family who've drunk from a secret spring and can't die. Winnie's tempted³ to join them in immortality⁴. But to the family, it's a curse. Here's Babbitt reading from that book in 2015.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

BABBITT: (Reading) She raged against it, helpless and insulted, and blurted⁵ at last, I don't want to die. No, said Tuck calmly. Not now - your time is not now. But dying's part of the wheel - right there next to being born. You can't pick out the pieces you like and leave the rest. Being part of the whole thing - that's the blessing⁶.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TUCK EVERLASTING")

JONATHAN JACKSON: (As Jesse Tuck) You can't have living without dying. Don't be afraid of death, Winnie. Be afraid of the unlived life.

CORNISH: "Tuck Everlasting" was made into two movies, including this one in 2002. It was also made into a Broadway show.

SHAPIRO: Natalie Babbitt wrote and illustrated⁷ many other books for young readers, including "The Search For Delicious," "The Eyes Of The Amaryllis" and "Kneeknock Rise," which won the Newbery Honor. In a 2012 interview, she fiercely defended the idea that children should not be talked down to.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

BABBITT: In this country, children are irrelevant⁸ because they don't have any power. And they don't have money. And that feeds the way we tend to overlook them. And that bothers me.

CORNISH: Kids loved her for taking them seriously. They even gave her feedback, as she told NPR's Melissa Block in 2015.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

BABBITT: I got a wonderful letter from a couple boys in Boston who thought I should add stuff in the beginning and - (laughter) so it wouldn't be so boring. But that's...

MELISSA BLOCK, BYLINE⁹: They had some ideas (laughter).

BABBITT: Yeah, they had some ideas. They wanted me to put motorcycle racing¹⁰ in the story (laughter).

BLOCK: That would've speeded things up, I suppose.

BABBITT: Yeah, it would.

SHAPIRO: Natalie Babbitt was 84 years old.

1 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

2 everlasting   

adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的

参考例句：

• These tyres are advertised as being everlasting.广告上说轮胎持久耐用。
• He believes in everlasting life after death.他相信死后有不朽的生命。

3 tempted   

v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词）

参考例句：

• I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚，但还是没开口。
• I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。

4 immortality   

n.不死，不朽

参考例句：

• belief in the immortality of the soul 灵魂不灭的信念
• It was like having immortality while you were still alive. 仿佛是当你仍然活着的时候就得到了永生。

5 blurted   

v.突然说出，脱口而出( blurt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She blurted it out before I could stop her. 我还没来得及制止，她已脱口而出。
• He blurted out the truth, that he committed the crime. 他不慎说出了真相，说是他犯了那个罪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

7 illustrated   

adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• His lecture was illustrated with slides taken during the expedition. 他在讲演中使用了探险时拍摄到的幻灯片。
• The manufacturing Methods: Will be illustrated in the next chapter. 制作方法将在下一章说明。

8 irrelevant   

adj.不恰当的，无关系的，不相干的

参考例句：

• That is completely irrelevant to the subject under discussion.这跟讨论的主题完全不相关。
• A question about arithmetic is irrelevant in a music lesson.在音乐课上，一个数学的问题是风马牛不相及的。

9 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

10 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。