中学推荐书 Middle School

Highlighted Authors 绘本作家推广系列：
Christian Robinson 克里斯蒂安•鲁滨逊

世界上会画插画的人很多，但是会用插图讲故事的人很少。Christian Robinson克里斯蒂安·鲁滨逊就是后者这样少有的人。

毕业于加州艺术学院动画专业的他，最开始是在芝麻街工作室当动画实习生，走进童书的机会纯属偶然。那是狂风暴雨的一天，他带着自己通宵整理的作品小样，一身狼狈，迟到心虚地默默钻进会议室的角落。就在会议快结束时，公司高层对几张李欧·李奥尼风格的插画颇感兴趣，随口问了一句：这是谁做的？于是便有了他第一次出版童书的机会。他更没想到的是，他的绘本一经问世就大受热捧。

There are many people in the world who can draw illustrations, but only a few can tell children's stories through illustration. Christian Robinson is one such rare person.

After graduating from the California Institute of the Arts with a degree in animation, he started out as an animation intern at Sesame Street Studios. The opportunity to work on children's books came by pure chance. It was a stormy day, he was late for a meeting after putting together some good workpieces overnight. He silently walked into the corner of the conference room. Toward the end of the meeting, the company executive was interested in some Leo Leoni-style illustrations and casually asked, "Who did this? And then he got his first opportunity to publish a children's book. What he didn't expect was that his picture book would be a big hit as soon as it was released.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

目前他和他的狗狗Baldwin居住在加州奥克兰市的由一个厂屋改造的艺术家工作室，这里的环境简单安静，足以让他全身心投入创作，肆意想象。后院虽小，但也正好可以放些蔬菜盆种植他的小萝卜，洋葱，芹菜，菠菜，卷心菜等等。

He and his dog Baldwin currently live in a converted artist studio in Oakland, California, which is simple and quiet enough for him to devote himself to his creativity and imagination. The backyard is small, but it's also the perfect place to put some vegetable pots to grow his carrots, onions, celery, spinach, cabbage, and more.

当他还是一个孩子的时候就特别喜欢制作东西：绘画、油画、雕塑，可以是任何他可以接触到的东西。因为“创造力使我够掌控自己，制定自己的规则，并在纸上创造自己的小世界。” 和很多其他美国孩子一样，他喜欢恐龙，也喜欢阿拉丁，美人鱼等迪士尼动画。美国50年代和60年代的儿童读物插图和平面艺术也是他的插图灵感来源之一。最近几年，他的作品都是以拼贴画位置，混合搭配颜料制作。通过实验和尝试各种不同的媒介和技术是他目前在工作中获得的最大乐趣。

When he was a kid he especially loved making things: drawings, paintings, sculptures, anything he could get his hands on. Because "creativity allows me to take control, to make my own rules and create my own little world on paper." Like many other American children, he loved dinosaurs, as well as Disney animations such as Aladdin and the Little Mermaids. American children's book illustrations and graphic art from the 50s and 60s are also part of his illustration inspiration. In recent years, his work has been produced by collaging, mixing, and matching paints. Experimenting and trying out different mediums and techniques is by far the most fun he gets out of his work.

• 

• 

• 

童年不幸的人也很多，但是把不幸当做生活的馈赠的人很少。Christian Robinson克里斯蒂安·鲁滨逊还是后者这样少有的人。

在镜头前和公众演讲中，Christian总是这样大方介绍自己：
大家好，我叫克里斯蒂安·鲁滨逊，我来自加利福尼亚州。我小时候没怎么读过书，我甚至还有阅读障碍。。。我爸爸在我五个月大时就把我丢给了奶奶，从此便不闻不问。我的妈妈很爱我，但她是一个嗑药成瘾的精神问题的患者，她的大部分时间几乎都在监狱中度过，所以见到妈妈的机会也极少。

Not everyone has a happy childhood, but there are still very few people who take their misfortune as a gift of life. So does Christian.
In front of the camera and in public speaking, Christian always introduces himself this way:

Hi everyone, my name is Christian Robinson and I'm from California. I didn't have that of a close relationship with books, I actually struggled to read... My dad left me with my grandmother when I was five months old and I haven't been cared for since. My mom loves me very much, but she is a drug addict with mental problems and has spent most of her life almost in prison, so the chances of seeing her are minimal.

大部分人有这样的母亲都会难于启齿，而他却对这个“失职的”母亲充满了感恩，并且经常骄傲地分享和妈妈为数不多的照片。他说他永远记得P. D. Eastman的《你是我妈妈吗？》一书里那只迷路的小鸟为了试图找到亲生母亲而不断努力。他也永远难记得，母亲在他8岁那年，出狱的第一天就带他出街游玩，并带他看了动画片《狮子王》。如果不是妈妈带他看《狮子王》的这次经历，他也不会更加坚信：画画原来可以这么给人启发和震撼，我长大也要通过画画影响更多的人！

While most people would be embarrassed to talk about having a mother like his, he is so grateful for his mother and often proudly shares the few photos he has of her. He will always remember P. D. Eastman's book Are You My Mother? , a book about a lost bird trying to find his biological mother. He will also always remember the time his mother hang out with him the whole day on her first day out of prison when he was 8 years old. They watched the animated film The Lion King together and spent a wonderful day. If his mother hadn't taken him to see The Lion King, he wouldn't have been more convinced that drawing could be so inspiring and powerful, and that he would grow up to influence more people through drawing!

• 

• 

另一个对他重要影响的人，是奶奶。“我与我的哥哥、两个表兄弟、姑姑和奶奶一起，在一个极小的只有一间卧室的公寓里长大。她总是让我感觉家里的爱满满当当。虽然家里物质匮乏，但我起码还有支铅笔和纸。虽然我不能决定我的成长环境，但我可以决定我想再纸上表达什么。”

Another person who was an important influence on him was his grandmother. "I grew up in a very small one-bedroom apartment with my brother, two cousins, my aunt, and my grandmother. She always made me feel like the house was simply full of love. Although there was not much stuff at home, I at least had a pencil and paper. I can't decide where I grew up, but I can decide what I wanted to say on paper."

多年后，他受纽伯瑞儿童文学奖作家Matt de la Peña邀请，画他的《市场街的最后一站》一书。故事里的男孩问奶奶：“我们怎么没有小汽车呢？”奶奶说：“我们要小汽车做什么呢？我们可是有会喷火的公交车！而且幽默的丹尼斯先生还会逗你开心。” 好像冥冥中注定一样，故事里的小男孩和奶奶简直就像Christian自己的故事。他的奶奶也是这样教育他：感恩我们有什么，而不是抱怨我们没有什么。奶奶一句句温暖启迪的话，可以抚平孩子心中所有的不平。

了不起的奶奶还不断地给Christian鼓励，通过他小时候做的黏土玩具认定孙子的艺术天分，并不断鼓励他创作。在他的另一本书《You Matter》（《你很重要》）的活动现场，他和奶奶紧紧拥抱，感恩并享受属于他们的幸福时刻。

Years later, he was invited by Newbery Medal-winning children's author Matt de la Peña to draw his book, Last Stop on Market Street. The boy in the story asks his grandmother, "How can we don't have a car?" The grandmother says, "Boy, what do we need a car for? We got a bus that breathes fire, and old Mr. Dennis, who always has a trick for you." As if by fate, the story of the boy and his grandmother is like Christian's own story. His grandmother taught him the same thing: to be grateful for what we have instead of complaining about what we don't have. The grandmother's warm and enlightening words can soothe all the injustice in a child's heart.

His amazing grandmother also gave Christian constant encouragement, recognizing her grandson's artistic talent through the clay toys he made as a child, and constantly encouraging him to create. At the event for his other book, You Matter he and his grandmother hugged each other tightly, giving thanks and enjoying their happy moment.

这就是Christian Robinson, 艺术天分反而是他最小的闪光点。他是这世界上极少有的人。

This is Christian Robinson, whose artistic talent is the least of his shining points. He is one of the very few kinds of people in this world.

在荟同图书馆，我们也收藏了他画的多部原版和译本作品，欢迎大家借阅：

了解更多艺术家详情和所有书目，请参观他的主页：https://www.theartoffun.com

双语潮词 Catch Phrase

科技与狠活 kējì yǔ hěnhuó

 Meaning:
 “科技”means “science and technology，”“与” means “and，” and “狠活，”“ferocious activity，” can in this context be roughly translated as “badass job.” This term was first used by vlogger  to show how shoddy raw materials were mixed with all kinds of chemical additives and turned miraculously into oyster sauce, milk tea, pork soup or other delicious food products that may deceive even the shrewdest customer. Therefore, this term is a sarcastic way of saying “low-quality food with a lot of additives.”

 Example:
A：你最近似乎很少喝奶茶了。 
Nǐ zuìjìn sìhū hěnshǎo hē nǎichá le。 You seem to rarely drink milk tea now.

B：不敢喝了，很多都是科技与狠活啊。
Bùgǎn hē le, hěnduō dōushì kējì yǔ hěnhuó a。 
I don't dare. Many milk tea products are of poor quality and filled with additives.

考研倒流 kǎoyán dàoliú

 Meaning:
 “考研”literally means “to take the national graduate program entrance exam”and“倒流”means “back flow.” This term, coined by Chinese netizens, refer to the scenario where a student who graduated from a top Chinese university has chosen to enroll at a graduate program with a less prestigious university than their undergraduate school. 

Example:
A：你哥考研上岸了吗？ 
Nǐgē kǎoyán shàng' àn le ma? 
Did your elder brother succeed in getting enrolled at a graduate program?

B：他选择了一所家乡的普通大学读研。 
Tā xuǎnzé le yīsuǒ jiāxiāng de pǔtōng dàxué dúyán。 
He has chosen to take a graduate program at a run- of-the-mill university in my hometown.

A：现在竞争激烈，考研倒流很普遍。 
Xiànzài jìngzhēng jiliè, kǎoyán dǎoliú hěn pǔbiàn。 
With the fierce competition, it's common to go to a not-so-famous university for graduate study.

*本期双语潮词借鉴来源《Shenzhen Daily》

欢迎荟同家庭的广大师生和家长朋友们投稿，内容限与阅读或书籍相关。Calling for submissions from the Whittle community members (including parents). Content should be related to books or reading.

投稿/联络 Contact: shenzhenlibrary@whittleschool.org