Judith Kerr and her “Tiger”朱迪斯·克爾和她的“老虎”

張麗娜

Judith Kerr was unusual in being equally successful as a writer and illustrator. In a career， she created more than 30 books， all of which have remained in print and sell worldwide.

The best-selling The Tiger Who Came to Tea （1968） was her first book. Characterized by its bold， naive-style illustrations， it tells the playful and imaginative story of how the everyday routine of a mother and her young daughter， Sophie， is disrupted by the unexpected arrival of a handsome stripy（有條紋的） tiger. There is no panic; the tiger settles down to drink all the water and eat all the food， to Sophie's delight rather than terror， before leaving politely. When father comes home， he cheers mother and daughter up by taking them out to dinner.

Antonia Fraser， one of the earliest reviewers， said it was a simple picture book that created delight for children. Later， many other reviewers assumed that the tiger stood for the Gestapo， who had so vividly interrupted Judith's own childhood. When interviewing her at events across the country I frequently heard her say， “It's just the story of a tiger who came to tea. I made it up to amuse my children because we were bored and their father was away filming for very long days at a time.”

Always thoughtfully prepared and elegantly and beautifully turned out， she remained a lively and inspiring speaker until her death， taking part in festivals and bookshop events， where she charmed audiences from babies to grandparents with her dry humour， warmth and natural storytelling ability.

Reading Check

Why did the author make up the story？

A.To make her children happy.

B.To express her love for the tigers.

C.To prepare for some bookshop events.

D.To kill time when waiting for her husband.

Language Study

I. 寫(xiě)作推薦

In a career， she created more than 30 books， all of which have remained in print and sell worldwide. 在其職業(yè)生涯中，她創(chuàng)造出30多部作品，所有的這些作品目前仍在印刷，銷(xiāo)往世界各地。

【點(diǎn)石成金】句中的which指代前面的books，引導(dǎo)非限制性定語(yǔ)從句，對(duì)前面主句進(jìn)行補(bǔ)充說(shuō)明。

【仿寫(xiě)】我的爸爸失業(yè)了，這使我很沮喪。

Ⅱ. 暢銷(xiāo)書(shū)話題表達(dá)

1. be equally successful as 作為……和……都很成功

2. the best-selling 暢銷(xiāo)書(shū)

3. be characterized by 以……為特色

4. It tells the playful and imaginative story of...

它講述了一個(gè)有趣和充滿想象力的故事

5. be disrupted by 被……打擾

6. the earliest reviewers 最早的評(píng)論者

7. a simple picture book 一本簡(jiǎn)單的圖畫(huà)書(shū)

8. create delight for children 給孩子創(chuàng)造快樂(lè)

9. amuse my children 逗我的孩子開(kāi)心

10. stand for 代表;象征

11. think highly of 高度評(píng)價(jià)

12. It's just the story of...? 講的只是一個(gè)……故事

13. thoughtfully prepared and elegantly and be-autifully turned out 精心準(zhǔn)備，優(yōu)雅而美麗地出席

14. She charmed audiences from babies to grandparents with her dry humour， warmth and natural storytelling ability. 她常以她的自嘲，溫暖及自然講述故事的能力吸引她的觀眾，老少皆宜。

Ⅲ. 小試牛刀

假定你是李華，你的英國(guó)網(wǎng)友Tony想買(mǎi)一本暢銷(xiāo)的兒童讀物送給他的兒子當(dāng)作禮物，發(fā)郵件向你征求建議，請(qǐng)給他回一封郵件，推薦一本你喜歡的兒童讀物。

注意：

1. 詞數(shù)100左右;

2. 可以適當(dāng)增加細(xì)節(jié)，以使行文連貫;

3. 郵件開(kāi)頭和結(jié)尾已為你寫(xiě)好，不計(jì)入總詞數(shù)。

Dear Tony，

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Yours，

Li Hua