Many years ago, the Times published the question, "What is the shortest road from London to Rome?" Many readers have given their own answers from a geographical point of view, trying to argue that their route is the shortest. Only one reader took a different approach, but became the best answer—"A good friend." ”
With friends, even the most distant and incredible journey can become interesting. As Caldecott Silver Medalist Fan Liyuan said, "We are up and down, sometimes stumbling, but we will eventually be smooth sailing." ”
Fan Liyuan
Encounters are an accident, and growth is mutual support. Becoming a better person together is perhaps the most moving place of friendship!
By Richard M. The 2020 Caldecott Silver Medal "The Bear Is Coming", co-created by T. Morris and Fan Liyuan, can be said to portray the magic of friendship to the fullest.
Be a curious bear
Bravely jump on a canoe
The story slowly opens from a small river in the forest, which runs day and night, not knowing the years in the mountains, the joy of the world, and even knowing that it is a small river.
Until one day, a bear came... Curiously, it rushed into the river on a broken log, letting itself go with the flow, not knowing that it had embarked on an adventure...
Until a lone frog jumped on its head, and in this way, the bear became the frog's first friend.
Two strange friends drifted all the way, not knowing that they would meet more friends. Turtles, beavers, raccoons, ducks...
A torrential forest adventure begins so senselessly!
Summer camp for 11 years old
It is a source of creative inspiration
Morris, the author of "Here Comes the Bear," was inspired by his first summer camp when he was 11 years old. At that time, he was overwhelmed, and his resistance to the unfamiliar environment made him think about tea and food for the first few days.
But there was a little boy in the group, who was full of curiosity about his surroundings and remembered everyone's names on the first day. This atmosphere infected Morris, who tried to take the first step and bravely befriend others.
Morris answers questions from young readers about "Here Comes the Bear."
In the end, that vacation became the most unforgettable memory of his life. He made new friends, learned to make canoes, and discovered one of his favorite foods of his life, pizza.
Morris said,
"So, you can see, I'm always full of curiosity like a bear, but I'm just a little scared to jump on that driftwood. That's why I love bears so much, he always embraces every trip and welcomes everyone to jump on his driftwood. ”
In this story, each character has a distinct personality. Bears are curious about the world, frogs are lonely, turtles are cautious about the unknown, beavers are warm and confident, raccoons are optimistic and cheerful, and ducks are calm and spontaneous.
They have different personalities, but they all choose to accept the addition of new friends, find subtle harmony in the difference, and let each other decorate their own journey.
Just like in life, everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses, but when friends work together, all difficulties seem so small.
Designed by DreamWorks designers
Every page is a blockbuster texture
However, this work won the Caddick Silver Award not only because of its lovely story, but also on the wonderful interpretation of the illustrator Teacher Li Yuan.
Caddick officially commented,
"Wow, what an amazing journey!" After the bear falls into the river, it embarks on an epic journey, collecting companions from the forest along the way. With the painter's vibrant lines, the gradual increase of bright colors, and the surprising turning of pages, the river becomes vibrant, turning into a cheerful adventure and solitaire. ”
Fan Liyuan, who had just received the manuscript, was actually very surprised, because although the story was only a few sentences, it suddenly caught her heart.
When conceiving the picture, she turned out to be an animation designer at DreamWorks, and she also fully demonstrated the film-level level level in the storyboard design, which perfectly fit the rhythm of Morris's story.
In the book, we can often see pictures pulled from the long view to the close-up. A group of small animals sitting on dead wood rushed from the distance, and the feeling of tension and excitement was sketched out at once.
There are also two pull pages in the middle that are adapted to vertical according to the direction of the waterfall, allowing the reader to follow the entire drifting line and have an immersive adventure.
The painter hid the careful thoughts,
Do you see that?
Fan Liyuan believes that the bear at the beginning of the story is in an unknown state of the world, it does not know how wonderful the adventure will be, and it does not know how surprising the companionship of friends will be. So in the front ring of the whole book, the whole picture looks plain, reflecting a sense of loneliness, only a small river is blue, indicating the color of life it is about to bring to the bear.
If the reader looks closely, he can also see small animals hiding all over the forest: bears, frogs, turtles, beavers, raccoons, ducks, and at first they are all gray.
But in the process of rafting, they met each other, and together they traveled through the forest. In the ring lining at the end of the book, the same scene, the difference is that the world is already colored.
In order to better highlight this "connecting bond", Fan Liyuan deliberately designed the shape of the entire forest valley into the outline of the United States. The division in real life makes her want to let everyone see the preciousness of harmony and unity from this story.
Bacon once said, "The lack of true friends and the purest and most pitiful loneliness; without friendship the world is nothing but a wilderness." "We might as well be like this bear, keep curious about the world, bravely plunge into every adventure, gently accept the friends around us, and don't let our hearts fade in the closed."
For children, the reading process of this book is a fun game, but also a friendship adventure, let's start this reading journey together!
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