As soon as CCTV's opening drama "The World of Man" was broadcast, it became the focus of hot discussion and praise, and Disney has purchased the overseas rights to the show. Adapted from the work of the same name by the famous writer Liang Xiaosheng, this well-known conscience drama shows the development and changes of Chinese society in the past fifty years with the life of the commoner Zhou family as a clue. The book won the 10th Mao Dun Literature Award.
"My Growing Pains"
Publisher: Shandong Education Press
Author: Liang Xiaosheng
Publication date: July 2021
"My Growing Pains", published by Shandong Education Publishing House, is a long autobiographical novel written by Liang Xiaosheng for the first time when he recalled his youth. In this work that can be called the juvenile version of "The World of Man", Liang Xiaosheng tells such a truth in a kind and simple text: growth is a process of continuous self-correction, but also a process of gradually understanding responsibility, and this process is inseparable from the support of various loves such as family affection and friendship. Recently, Baidao Network interviewed Zhou Yizhi, the editor-in-charge of this book, and listened to her tell how this work leads young readers back to the old time and discovers the beauty and goodness of the world through various life tribulations.
Start children's book creation with a caring heart,
Gain insight into the trajectory of your youth
Liang Xiaosheng's weight in the contemporary literary world is self-evident. While paying attention to the "world", he has also extended the scope of creation to the field of children's literature and is committed to the promotion of children's reading. In fact, "My Growing Pains" is not the first cooperation between Shandong Education Publishing House and Liang Xiaosheng, and the origin of this strong alliance dates back to 2018.
▲ Famous writer Liang Xiaosheng
Zhou Yizhi introduced that at that time, Liang Xiaosheng, as the "Shandong National Reading Image Ambassador", came to participate in the "New Era, New Reading - 2018 Qilu Reading Season" held in Shandong Book City. At the meeting, Liang Xiaosheng said that he paid special attention to the reading of children and children, and also paid close attention to the publication of children's books on the market, and found that many children's books described the reality of children at present, lacked guidance and educational role, and decided to combine his reading experience in his youth and his many years of creative experience to devote himself to children's literature creation. Shandong Education Publishing House has always taken service education as its fundamental task, which is highly consistent with Liang Xiaosheng's creative philosophy, and the two sides have immediately cooperated.
In July 2019, Shandong Education Publishing House published Liang Xiaosheng's first children's book work, "Liang Xiaosheng's Fairy Tales". The five books not only contain fascinating stories, but also integrate the shaping of children's character and the improvement of their critical thinking ability, which deeply hides Liang Xiaosheng's deep concern for children's physical and mental health development.
"Liang Xiaosheng's Fairy Tales : Series 1 & 2 (10 Volumes)"
Publisher: Shandong Education Press
Author: Liang Xiaosheng
Publication date: January 2020
Zhou Yizhi said that in the process of planning and publishing the "Liang Xiaosheng Fairy Tale", the editors read a large number of Liang Xiaosheng's works and exchanged with them many times. "The more I came into contact with Teacher Liang, the deeper I got to know him, and the more I felt that his youth was a very worthy of writing and very worthy of being known." Therefore, Shandong Education Publishing House proposed that Liang Xiaosheng create a long juvenile growth novel with childhood as the background and himself as the protagonist, and "My Growing Troubles" was born. Liang Xiaosheng also joked in the book: "This book is the task given to me by the publishing house. ”
As the first readers of the book, the three editors read it in the early morning on the first night of getting the manuscript, but they could not hide their excitement and could not wait to exchange their reading feelings with each other. Zhou Yizhi revealed that the reason why this work can be so fascinating is because everyone can see their own growth experience in it, and this very infectious text makes people emotional and indulgent in empathy.
"My Growing Pains" in the form of an autobiographical body, from the perspective of a teenager, to grow up as the axis, continues one ordinary and moving story after another, and these stories, not only in the general sense of the story, but also give people a sense of substitution that has been experienced. Growth is something that everyone must experience, and everyone has their own growth story. This book is like an old friend who has been away for a long time, talking about that year, kind, true, cheerful and endless.
There is bitterness and sweetness to convey the warmth of the world,
The old experience presents a different reading experience
What is Liang Xiaosheng's "growing pains"? From moving away from the old house to repairing the new home, from the warmth of the parent-child reunion to the ups and downs on the way to the examination, the non-stop days are like the corners of the child's clothes, trivial and unclear, pulling continuously; or pulling sweet potatoes, or picking cinders, embarrassment is the test given by life, the future will shine after dawn, there is always hope... Ordinary is the day, extraordinary are the troubles of growing up.
As Liang Xiaosheng said in this passage in the preface: Whether poor or sick, whether there is a shortage of coal or food, whether the family is here or there, as long as the family loves each other, difficulties will always be overcome. And as long as we are deeply grateful for the help of others, there will be more enthusiastic people willing to help us.
Suffering is the wealth of growth, but books for young children are not suitable for writing too much suffering. So, how does this book grasp the extent of "suffering"?
Tang Sulan, a well-known children's literature writer, commented on this book: Teacher Liang Xiaosheng told this story full of suffering with plain and restrained language and retrospective narrative. He doesn't sensationalize, he doesn't exaggerate, he doesn't exaggerate, he doesn't let go of his emotions. The tone of the author's narration is gentle, as if the stream of life has entered the deep pool, and the deep pool is under the unforgettable childhood events, but the waves above the deep pool are not alarming. Although the author takes us back to that era and experiences various hardships of life with the protagonist, he never shows suffering, does not write with suffering as the purpose of writing, but discovers the beauty and goodness of the world through suffering. Therefore, the work unfolds for us the coercion and hardship of the growing environment, and writes about the mutual support between neighbors, about the teacher's love and tolerance for himself, about the understanding of the three of them mother and son by Lin Yu, who did not know each other at that time, and wrote about the village doctor who took the longest road to visit, and the person who was the chief doctor of the people was upset, and "my" mother mistakenly thought that he would cure mental illness, but the old doctor not only gave medicine, but also told the nurse not to collect money.
Through the stubborn growth of a child who faces many hardships, the book conveys to young readers the core idea that "the world is still full of hope and trust". Suffering is not only the ensuing problems of life, but in overcoming suffering, cultivating an optimistic attitude towards life and sharpening the mind to cope calmly.
In this book, Liang Xiaosheng not only presents the warmth of the world, but also provides a more diverse and rich reading experience for young readers, which is an experience far from the lives of today's children. So, how does this book make it possible for children to understand and empathize?
Zhou Yizhi explained that a generation has a generation of life, Liang Xiaosheng's childhood and the current childhood of young readers, although the direct experience is very different, but it is undeniable that the common truth and beauty of the world are unchanged. For example, the book writes that "I" and my classmate Liu Shuqi pushed a flatbed truck to pull sweet potatoes. Although it was cold and tired along the way, the car was broken, the gloves were lost, and the handkerchief was frozen on the handlebar when the hand was cold, but in the end "we" still sang happily and pulled back the sweet potato. The scene of "pulling a sweet potato by a board" and "receiving a sweet potato with a ticket" is rare to see at the moment, but the effort behind it (pulling the plate), perseverance (subject to cold wind), joy (praise), etc., make every generation feel more intimate to read. In addition, the qualities of collaboration (painting walls, selling tofu), and taking responsibility (escorting brothers, seeking medical treatment) also subtly make young readers feel something as the story in the book unfolds slowly.
Delicate illustrations deepen the emotion of the story,
Continue to cooperate to help children grow up in education
Mr. Liang Xiaosheng's true and simple style of writing, and his carving in the creation of words and sentences, have restarted a bright window for readers and friends. In a sense, it can be said that Mr. Liang Xiaosheng is creating a book's 'real world' for today's children and teenagers. As Zhou Yizhi said, the characters and stories in "My Growing Pains" seem to be as natural as a stroke, but in fact, there is flesh and blood, and young readers will not help but care about their fate and find their own growth marks in them.
"My Growing Pains" is a juvenile version of "The World", and many of the characters in the book are the prototypes of "The World". For example, on page 68, there is such a description: "More than forty years later, when I created "The World of People", the appearance of Chen Da Niang appeared in front of me again and again, so there was a character in "The World of Man" who was Zheng Juan and her mother. Liang Xiaosheng also mentioned that many of the characters in the book use real names to show gratitude.
Complemented by the book's unpretentious story are exquisite illustrations by up-and-coming illustrator Ge Guiyuan. Zhou Yizhi introduced that on the basis of careful study of the text and many discussions, Shandong Education Publishing House decided to appoint Ge Guiyuan as the book illustrator, on the one hand, because Ge Guiyuan is good at expressing the details of daily life, on the other hand, her painting style is more relevant to the preferences of young readers. After reading the manuscript, Ge Guiyuan said that the book resonated with her greatly, and she cried for many days, as if she had finally ended her youth.
At first, the book's illustrations were colored in watercolor, but after much deliberation, Ge Guiyuan and the editors agreed that only heavy paint could highlight the difficulties depicted in the book, so they finally decided to use a mixture of acrylic, gouache, and mixed material collage. For example, when drawing scenes in the home, due to the large number of descriptions of the mottled walls in the home, in order to highlight this mottled texture, a guiyuan mixed with some quartz sand in the acrylic pigment, and the coarser particles achieved the desired effect.
In addition, in addition to showing the suffering in the text, Shandong Education Publishing House hopes to convey the love and hope in the work. After consulting with Guiyuan, he selected several pictures and added the element of "light" to the picture, such as the moonlight that shines through the glass to the bedside at night, the light of the street lamp, the lamp of the distant people, etc., which means that there is always a hopeful light that penetrates the darkness to illuminate the road to growth.
The strong alliance between Shandong Education Publishing House and Liang Xiaosheng continues. For "My Growing Pains", young readers can also learn about Liang Xiaosheng's mental journey in creating this book by watching the video. What is more worth looking forward to is that in April, Shandong Education Publishing House will launch Liang Xiaosheng's new work "Liang Xiaosheng's Parent-child Half-Hour Picture Book", including "Flowers and Its Flowers", "The Sound of one morning", "The Adventure of Little Petrel", "The Story of Flying on the Grass" and "The Prince of Sunflowers". This is Liang Xiaosheng's picture book for preschoolers aged 3-6. In the book, he uses small animals such as kittens, rabbits, petrels, little frogs and little turtles to tell children to be persistent and persistent in doing things; to be brave enough to take the first step to become a better version of themselves; to be helpful and to be helped by others... Each book is an independent story, and each story can let children see their own shadow. Liang Xiaosheng also took this opportunity to convey his concept of edutainment and education, convey the educational significance of growth, so as to forge the instinct of kindness in the hearts of children and brush up a brilliant background for children's lives.
Author: Wang Ran
Edit: Daozhi
Final: Ling Jia