VOA慢速英语2012 THIS IS AMERICA - Maurice Sendak, 1928-2012: His Imagination Redefined Children’s Literature

 

THIS IS AMERICA - Maurice Sendak, 1928-2012: His Imagination Redefined Children’s Literature

From VOA Learning English, welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in Special English. This week on our program, we remember the award-winning writer and illustrator Maurice Sendak. He died on May eighth, two thousand twelve, at the age of eighty-three. During his career Maurice Sendak produced more than one hundred children’s books. Now here are Faith Lapidus and Shirley Griffith to tell our story.

For over sixty years, his artistic¹ skill brought to life richly imaginative worlds filled with children, animals and magical creatures. Two of his works -- “Where the Wild Things Are” and “In the Night Kitchen” -- helped redefine modern children’s literature.

Maurice Sendak was born in nineteen twenty-eight in the Brooklyn part of New York City. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Poland. They met in New York.

As a child, Maurice was often sick. As a result, he stayed home and read books and drew pictures to entertain himself.

As an author and illustrator, Maurice Sendak became known for stories that were often dark and intense. For example, “Outside Over There” is about a baby kidnapped by goblins while her older sister is not paying attention. The sister must leave the safety of home to rescue the baby from a strange and dream-like world.

Maurice Sendak said he got the idea for “Outside Over There” from a real-life kidnapping that ended in tragedy. In nineteen thirty-two, the baby son of the famous pilot Charles Lindbergh was kidnapped from home and murdered. 

Maurice Sendak was only a small child at the time. But he never forgot his fear as he listened to the radio broadcasts about the Lindbergh baby kidnapping.

The man found guilty of that crime was executed but always declared his innocence².

Maurice Sendak grew up with continuous reminders³ about death. When he was sick, his grandmother dressed him in white clothes that she thought would help him avoid dying.

During World War Two many of his family members in Europe were murdered in the Nazi⁴ German death camps. He remembers his mother screaming and crying each time she learned that another family member had been killed. Sometimes his parents would talk about the dead relatives, especially the children.

These influences help explain an important part of Maurice Sendak’s books. They often show children dealing⁵ with and overcoming evil forces and other complex situations. Many of his stories are about a child trying to survive while facing fears or other difficult emotions.

In his books, he skillfully combined an adult's point of view with a child's point of view, and the dark and light in all of us.

One of the first books that Maurice Sendak worked on as an artist was “A Hole is to Dig: A First Book of First Definitions.” To write the book, Ruth Krauss asked young children how they would define words like “face,” “dog” and “party.” The book, published in nineteen fifty-two, brought wide attention to Maurice Sendak’s artwork. A few years later, he drew pictures for the first "Little Bear" books, written by Else Minarik.

In nineteen sixty-two he published the “Nutshell Library." These were four little books in a box measuring about seven by ten centimeters. The books are "Alligators⁶ All Around," "One Was Johnny," “Chicken Soup with Rice” and “Pierre."

"Pierre" is a funny story about a little boy who behaves badly. Every time his parents ask him a question, he gives them the same answer: "I don't care."

One day his mother said

When Pierre climbed out of bed

Good morning, darling boy, you are my only joy.

Pierre said- I don’t care!

What would you like to eat?

I don’t care!

Some lovely cream of wheat?

I don’t care!

Don’t sit backwards⁷ in your chair

I don’t care!

Then something happens to Pierre. He gets eaten by a hungry lion. But the story has a happy ending. Pierre changes his behavior when he gets reunited with his parents.

Maurice Sendak’s drawings are very expressive⁸. His landscapes are beautifully detailed⁹ and his monsters are more loveable than they are frightening.

In a YouTube video posted by the Rosenbach Museum, Maurice Sendak talks about what it means to be an illustrator.

“An illustrator, in my own mind, and this is not a truth of any kind, is someone who so falls in love with writing, that he wishes he had written it and the closest he can get to it is illustrating¹⁰ it. And the next thing you learn, you have to find something unique in this book, which perhaps even the author was not entirely¹¹ aware of. And that’s what you hold onto and that’s what you add to the pictures. A whole other story that you believe in, that you think is there. When you find another story in a story, that’s the story I am telling the children.”

In nineteen sixty-three Maurice Sendak published “Where the Wild Things Are.” The story is about the adventures of a rebellious¹² young boy named Max. Max likes to dress up so he looks like a wolf. One evening, his mother sends him to his room without dinner as punishment for misbehaving. Max enters an imaginary world of large, frightening creatures. These Wild Things make him their ruler. But he becomes lonely and wants to return home.

“And when he came to the place where the wild things are they roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws till Max said “BE STILL!” and tamed them with the magic trick of staring into all their yellow eyes without blinking once.”

At first, Maurice Sendak wanted to make the story about wild horses. But he could not draw horses very well. Instead, he drew the creatures to look like the members of his family in Brooklyn.

Some critics thought the book was too frightening for children. Some libraries even banned it. But “Where the Wild Things Are” became a classic -- one of the bestselling children’s books of all time. A movie version directed by Spike¹³ Jonze came out in two thousand nine.

When Maurice Sendak began his career, many of the stories in children's books presented a happy and perfect world. He wrote books that were honest and sometimes very serious. The popularity of his work widened the list of subjects considered acceptable for children’s books.

In nineteen seventy Maurice Sendak published “In the Night Kitchen.” It tells the story of a little boy named Mickey. Mickey enters the dream world of a night kitchen. He falls into a large container of cake batter¹⁴ being mixed by three fat cooks. He makes an airplane out of bread dough¹⁵ and flies around the kitchen. Some people criticized the book because Mickey is shown without his clothes as he falls into the batter. But "In the Night Kitchen" was a big success.

Where the bakers¹⁶ who bake till the dawn so we can have cake in the morn mixed Mickey in batter, chanting: Milk in the batter! Milk in the batter! Stir it! Scrape it! Make it! Bake it! And they put that batter up to bake a delicious Mickey-cake. But right in the middle of the steaming and the making and the smelling and the baking Mickey poked¹⁷ through and said: I’m not the milk and the milk’s not me! I’m Mickey!

Over the years, Maurice Sendak also worked on many theater productions. He helped make “Where the Wild Things Are” into an opera. He also created set designs for productions of “The Nutcracker” and “The Magic Flute¹⁸."

In two thousand three, Maurice Sendak worked with the playwright¹⁹ Tony Kushner on a picture book called “Brundibar.” The book is based on a children’s opera by the Jewish Czech composer Hans Krasa. Two poor children must buy milk for their sick mother. They try to raise money from the people in their town by singing on the street. A mean man named Brundibar chases them away. But, with the help of a group of children and some talking animals, they raise the money to buy the milk.

This opera was first performed in nineteen forty-two at a Jewish children's orphanage²⁰ in Prague, in what was then Czechoslovakia. Then Krasa and the children were sent to a Nazi concentration camp, along with most of the other Jews of Prague. Krasa directed the children as they performed the opera fifty-five times at the camp, before they were killed. 

Maurice Sendak said that “Brundibar” represented the sadness he felt about losing family in the Holocaust²¹. He thought that the book might help him move on from always thinking about his family’s past. He and Tony Kushner worked together to stage their own version of “Brundibar" as an opera for children.

Maurice Sendak won many awards including the Living Legend honor from the Library of Congress. He also won every major award for children’s literature. Time magazine called him “the Picasso of children’s books.”

The largest collection of his art can be found at the Rosenbach Museum & Library in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Maurice Sendak chose the museum in the late nineteen seventies to house his works. The collection includes more than ten thousand drawings, manuscripts, books and other items.

1 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

2 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

3 reminders   

n.令人回忆起…的东西( reminder的名词复数 )；提醒…的东西；（告知该做某事的）通知单；提示信

参考例句：

• The film evokes chilling reminders of the war. 这部电影使人们回忆起战争的可怕场景。
• The strike has delayed the mailing of tax reminders. 罢工耽搁了催税单的投寄。

4 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

5 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

6 alligators   

n.短吻鳄( alligator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Two alligators rest their snouts on the water's surface. 两只鳄鱼的大嘴栖息在水面上。 来自辞典例句
• In the movement of logs by water the lumber industry was greatly helped by alligators. 木材工业过去在水上运输木料时所十分倚重的就是鳄鱼。 来自辞典例句

7 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

8 expressive   

adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的

参考例句：

• Black English can be more expressive than standard English.黑人所使用的英语可能比正式英语更有表现力。
• He had a mobile,expressive,animated face.他有一张多变的，富于表情的，生动活泼的脸。

9 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

10 illustrating   

给…加插图( illustrate的现在分词 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明

参考例句：

• He upstaged the other speakers by illustrating his talk with slides. 他演讲中配上幻灯片，比其他演讲人更吸引听众。
• Material illustrating detailed structure of graptolites has been etched from limestone by means of hydrofluoric acid. 表明笔石详细构造的物质是利用氢氟酸从石灰岩中侵蚀出来。

11 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

12 rebellious   

adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的

参考例句：

• They will be in danger if they are rebellious.如果他们造反，他们就要发生危险。
• Her reply was mild enough,but her thoughts were rebellious.她的回答虽然很温和，但她的心里十分反感。

13 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

14 batter   

v.接连重击；磨损；n.牛奶面糊；击球员

参考例句：

• The batter skied to the center fielder.击球手打出一个高飞球到中外野手。
• Put a small quantity of sugar into the batter.在面糊里放少量的糖。

15 dough   

n.生面团；钱，现款

参考例句：

• She formed the dough into squares.她把生面团捏成四方块。
• The baker is kneading dough.那位面包师在揉面。

16 bakers   

n.面包师( baker的名词复数 )；面包店；面包店店主；十三

参考例句：

• The Bakers have invited us out for a meal tonight. 贝克一家今晚请我们到外面去吃饭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The bakers specialize in catering for large parties. 那些面包师专门负责为大型宴会提供食品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 poked   

v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交

参考例句：

• She poked him in the ribs with her elbow. 她用胳膊肘顶他的肋部。
• His elbow poked out through his torn shirt sleeve. 他的胳膊从衬衫的破袖子中露了出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 flute   

n.长笛；v.吹笛

参考例句：

• He took out his flute, and blew at it.他拿出笛子吹了起来。
• There is an extensive repertoire of music written for the flute.有很多供长笛演奏的曲目。

19 playwright   

n.剧作家，编写剧本的人

参考例句：

• Gwyn Thomas was a famous playwright.格温·托马斯是著名的剧作家。
• The playwright was slaughtered by the press.这位剧作家受到新闻界的无情批判。

20 orphanage   

n.孤儿院

参考例句：

• They dispensed new clothes to the children in the orphanage.他们把新衣服发给孤儿院的小孩们。
• They gave the proceeds of the sale to the orphanage.他们把销售的收入给了这家孤儿院。

21 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。