Children's book

On March 1893, a little girl named Wanda Gag was born in New Ulm, Minnesota, USA. She is the eldest of seven children, her father is a painter and photographer, and her mother's ancestors are Czechoslovakians.

/kloc-at the age of 0/4, Wanda gag's father died, and at the age of 24, her mother died after a long illness. She brought up six brothers and sisters by herself with perseverance.

Many people compare her to Cinderella. She studied at Minneapolis Art School and new york Art School with loans and scholarships from family and friends. After graduation, she painted fashion illustrations for several years. But she was eager to draw what she liked, so she quit her job in new york and went back to the countryside to concentrate on her creation.

During this period, she created three picture books and sent them to publishers in new york, but they were quickly returned each time.

1926, Wanda Gag was 33 years old. Emerson, a children's book editor of Coward-McConn publishing company, discovered Wanda Gag's works in the Vihei Art Museum in new york.

She asked Wanda gag: Would you like to publish a picture book?

Wanda Gag took out one of the three picture books returned by other children's book editors and mailed it to the children's book editor of Coward-Maikang publishing company. This picture book is 654.38+00,000 cats.

1928 published One Million Cats. This picture book won her a reputation, and won the silver award of newbury Prize in 1929, and the lewis carroll Bookshelf Award established after her death. This book is also called the first "real picture book" in America, which opened the "golden age of picture books" in 1930s.

In fact, behind this seemingly elegant story, there are many difficulties in real life. How difficult is it for a 24-year-old girl who lost her parents to support a family of seven? No wonder there are always seemingly weak heroes in her works, but they are full of infinite vitality. ?

Let's take a look at 1 10,000 cats, a simple story full of life philosophy:

A long time ago, an old man and an old woman lived in a beautiful and clean house, surrounded by flowers. But they are not happy because they are too lonely.

"If only we had a lovely furry kitten!" Grandma said with a sigh.

"Honey, I'll get you a cat." Grandpa said.

So, grandpa climbed over the sunny hill, walked in the shady valley for a long time, and finally came to a hill full of cats.

There are cats here and there. There are cats and kittens everywhere.

Hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions of cats, tens of millions of cats, hundreds of millions of cats.

Faced with so many cats, the hard-to-choose grandfather took all the cats home. He climbed the sunny hills, crossed the shady valley and took all his cats home. He wants to show grandma these beautiful cats.

On the way, these cats drank water from a pond and ate grass on a hillside.

When I got home, grandma saw so many cats and cried, "We can't afford it. They will eat up our house. I just want a kitten. "

Grandma thought for a while and decided to let the cat decide which one to keep.

Grandpa shouted to the cat, "Which of you is the most beautiful?"

"It's me!" "It's me!" "No, it's me!"

"No, I am the most beautiful!" "It's me!"

"No, it's me! It's me, it's me! " Hundreds, thousands, millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions of voices are shouting, because every cat thinks it is the most beautiful.

They bite, scratch and tear at each other, making terrible noises. Grandpa and grandma ran home at once.

After a while, the quarrel stopped. Not even a cat. They ate each other!

Suddenly, grandpa saw a frightened kitten in the tall grass. Grandpa and grandma picked him up. He is thin and his hair is messy.

Grandpa said, "Poor kitten, what's the matter?" Why not be eaten by hundreds, thousands, millions, tens of millions and hundreds of millions of cats? "

"Oh, I'm just an ordinary kitten," said the kitten. "So when you asked who was the most beautiful, I didn't say anything. This way, no cats will come to my trouble. "

Later, my grandparents took the kitten home and fed it a lot of milk every day. Soon, it grew fat and cute.

Grandparents think this kitten is the most beautiful cat in the world. Because they have seen hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions of cats, tens of millions of cats, hundreds of millions of cats-but no cat is so beautiful.

The story is over.

But the kitten said lightly, "Oh, I'm just an ordinary kitten, so when you asked who was the most beautiful, I didn't say anything." This way, no cats will come to my trouble. " This sentence left a deep impression on me.

Its words remind people of the philosophy of Laozi and Zhuangzi, the survival wisdom of Carnegie and the secret of happy life of Harvard University. ...

Laozi once said, "A man's talent is indisputable, and the world can't compete with him." It means: only those who don't argue with others, no one in the world can argue with him. This sentence fully embodies Laozi's philosophical thought of "weakness conquers strength". Laozi's so-called "indisputable" is not to give up everything, but to be invincible by striving. The ideological system of "being confused is hard to change" and "losing is a blessing" spread in later generations has something to do with Lao Tzu's so-called "indisputable virtue"

Zhuangzi once said, "He who wins the least is the greatest", which means that on some small issues, don't compete with secular people for victory, and winning big is the real victory. A wise man is unwilling to fight for a little human interest. If he looks at higher goals with a detached attitude, he can achieve greater victory. As the saying goes, "Simplicity in the world can't compete with beauty": if a person can keep his simple nature, he is the most perfect person in the world.

Carnegie once said in "The Weakness of Human Nature": If you want enemies, you are better than your friends; If you want to get more friends, let your friends get ahead of you.

Harvard University once did a study and spent 75 years following 724 people, and found that all happy lives have one thing in common: good interpersonal relationships.

After reading 1 10,000 cats, you can't help but marvel at the kitten's words in the story. Although it is only very simple, I just feel that I am ordinary, there is no need to fight, and my self-awareness is in place, so I survived.

We can't help but sigh: What a clever kitten this is? Seemingly simple language and low-key attitude, but it shows its survival wisdom in times of crisis.

1 10,000 cats subtly conveys ordinary and introverted virtues to children, without preaching, but with far-reaching implications.

This is a children's book. For children, it is a strange, exaggerated but warm story.

This is also a fairy tale for adults. For adults, they read the philosophy of life behind the story.

Since its publication,/kloc-0.0 million cats has won many top prizes for children's books. It won the newbury Prize, the highest honor for American children's books. At the same time, it is regarded as the first real picture book in American history, and The New York Times enthusiastically calls it readers' favorite forever. Selected as 100 books that affect the whole world by library journal, and selected as 100 picture books that everyone should know.