Special report on International Children's Book Day

  Childhood needs nourishment. What kind of children’s books you choose determines what kind of future you will have. At the 2023 "Love Reading Children's Books 100" press conference held recently, veteran children's book publisher Hai Fei said that now that we have entered the era of children's literature, children's book publishing, and children's reading, we should pursue high-quality children's reading , Reading for All, Children First. According to statistics, there are more than 3,000 book lists released by institutions, publishing houses, media, individuals, etc. in a year. The book lists are flying everywhere. On the one hand, they promote reading, but on the other hand, they also bring choices to teachers, students and parents. of confusion.

 What exactly are good children’s books? What kind of books should be placed on children’s bookshelves and in campus libraries? How do teachers guide students in reading? At the press conference, experts and scholars from various fields provided in-depth interpretations of the current problems and misunderstandings in children's reading from the perspectives of art, science, humanities, education, etc., and discussed how to select, read, and use books with a professional perspective.

  Is "reading" just "reading words"?

  “Many people ask, how to read books without words? They think that ‘reading’ means ‘reading words’.” Ji Zhihua, a painter and picture book creator, believes that you should never translate wordless books into books with words and read them to children. Reading is a process that is deeply processed by the brain. It requires not only seeing with the eyes, but also thinking and drawing conclusions. The significance of picture books is to bypass words and enable children who have not mastered the tools of words to read first. In the future, when a child masters language and writing tools, he will develop better and faster than those children who have not learned to read but have learned a lot of messy things.

     The same is true for children learning to draw. "Many of the common children's drawings we see are actually not real children's drawings." Ji Zhihua took out two elephants drawn by children to introduce. The left side is a simple drawing that is traditionally taught to children. The drawings look very similar. , but this is not the elephant that children really see, but "technical training", a symbol of an elephant invented by adults. On this symbol you can find everything that an elephant has, such as tusks and a long trunk. , huge body, apart from that, we can’t see what the elephant’s living environment is like. The elephant drawn by the child is covered with messy lines. At this time, you must ask the child why he drew it like this? He will tell you that this is how he felt when he saw elephants in the zoo in person - the elephants have long hair, not smooth, and the zoo is full of hairy, smelly, and dirty things, so he Draw your own sensory experience of the zoo such as sight, smell, taste, etc. This is the real children's drawing.

     Ji Zhihua said that real children's paintings reflect the development of children's brain neural networks, and experienced psychologists can even guess the approximate age of the child and his development level based on the painting. For example, scholars have summarized the rules for children to draw little people: when they are 3-4 years old, they draw a round head with four sticks inserted to form the limbs; by the age of 5, they begin to have a clear distinction between the body and the limbs. ; The little people drawn by 6-year-old children are called tubular little people by scholars; 7-8-year-old children especially like to draw little people in various postures, but they are not good at drawing; only children over 9 years old can draw sitting figures well. , standing, running and other postures. "Children all over the world follow this rule. If there is no intervention, he will be as accurate as a clock. Therefore, there is a critical period in children's development. Formal learning of drawing must not be until after the age of 9, which is what Piaget called the 'concrete operational stage'. ' to the 'formal operation stage'. Teaching children to draw too early will interrupt the construction of the child's brain neural network."

  What children should know about the world of science

  Speaking of popular science reading, Zhang Jinshuo, a judge of the 2023 "Love Reading Children's Books 100" and deputy director of the National Zoological Museum, was quite emotional: "In the process of reviewing books, what we pursue is to be as scientific and rigorous as possible. There are many reading materials full of People's 'imagination' is full of unscientific stories. Returning to the animals themselves, returning to the real world, is very far away from us." He cited "radar was made by bionic bats" as an example. This story has been spread for at least a few years. Ten years, but actually not at all. The sound emitted by bats is ultrasonic waves, which are mechanical waves, while radar is electromagnetic waves, and the waves themselves are different. In addition, we did not know that bats use ultrasound before the invention of radar. Ultrasound was not officially discovered until 1938. For another example, it is impossible for a hedgehog to carry fruit; a crocodile eats by swallowing and does not stuff its teeth, so it is impossible to pick its teeth... There are many unscientific stories like this.

    Zhang Jinshuo said frankly that our aesthetic education for children today is lacking. To a large extent, it does not give children the opportunity to examine the beauty of nature and the beauty of all things. We emphasize more on the output of knowledge, but on nature, animals, How to understand and appreciate all things from the perspective of human nature is what our popular science books should do.

     To his delight, "1000 Years Witnessed by Oak Trees" was selected as one of the "100 Most Read Children's Books" in 2023. It is a popular science book that combines science, humanities and history very well. The book takes the perspective of an oak tree, leading readers through time and space to witness the changes in thousands of years of history. The book describes the development process from forest to village and from village to city, showing the interactive relationship between humans and nature. At the same time, the book also uses popular science knowledge to let children understand the life cycle and growth process of oak trees, as well as the impact of humans on the natural environment.

     "We hope that children will understand the world through reading, but in the final analysis, we want them to return to the  world and understand every plant, every tree, every insect, every fish, every bird and every beast around them, because they live around you, The square inch of land in your campus and under your feet requires children to understand the real world through their own observation." At the same time, Zhang Jinshuo also reminded that there must be a process for learning science. If you are in primary school or preschool It is a terrible thing to let them learn science in the true sense at the early stage, because science is cold and cruel to a certain extent-a kind of cruelty that you cannot imagine. Therefore, according to the laws of human growth and development, we should return to the nature of children and let them start by "knowing more about the names of birds, animals, and plants" to understand the richness and diversity of the world.

  The core of humanities is people themselves

  The so-called "humanities" are defined in Cihai as follows: they refer to various cultural phenomena in human society. Humanities books include human history, culture, philosophy, art, psychology, law, society and other knowledge fields. They focus on human thoughts, emotions, behaviors, as well as the evolution laws of human social development and other phenomena.

    "Humanities is a process of education and learning. Good reading materials are a process of slowly shaping and nourishing children's minds. It is an education that is realized in every minute and every second of observation." Children's reading promoter, Children's book translator Sun Huiyang believes that the core of humanities is actually returning to people themselves. When children start reading humanities books, it is like starting the magical first domino. It not only broadens their reading horizons, but also becomes the diversity and complexity of the real world, and becomes the basis for children to observe it. A door. It also allows children to understand different customs, cultures, values and lifestyles, which helps cultivate their empathy and tolerance.

   If books can be compared to spiritual food, then the more types of books children read, the more comprehensive nutrition they can absorb, and the better their spiritual world can develop. Looking through the list of "100 Love Reading Children's Books" over the past few years, we can see that behind every excellent children's book there is one or more creators who have devoted part of their lives to the work. Li Wenru, founder and executive chairman of Shenzhen Aiyue Charity Foundation, said:

     The author of "Mirror Image" is Australian writer Jenny Baker. In the book, Jenny Baker takes readers to explore and understand the commonalities in different cultures, as well as the differences in the commonalities. Through reading, children not only increase their knowledge, but also become better able to understand and tolerate different cultures. It is precisely because Jenny Baker herself is a person who likes to travel and get in touch with the vast world that she can pass on such values to her children. She hopes that their children will become people who are broad-minded, knowledgeable and empathetic.

    "Uncle Mouse Got Up Late" tells the story of a little girl named "Mouse Yaya" in the Summer Palace. It is childlike, humorous, emotional and has vivid details. It is an excellent children's literature work. The author Ye Guangqin once lived in the Summer Palace. Years later, his childhood memories are still vivid in his mind. Therefore, the innocence in the works is natural and exudes real life experience.

     There is also a popular science book called "Things Those Animals Taught Me: A Nature Observer's Notes on Natural History". The author Zhang Yu is the editor of "Natural History" magazine. He spends his time before and after get off work every day in Beijing's parks and Observe small animals like ducks, squirrels, praying mantises, and hedgehogs in the wild. This collection of essays is the presentation of first-hand information he has recorded over the years. It is rich in pictures and texts. For today's children, it must be very interesting and meaningful to learn about the animals around them.

     These different types of excellent children's books provide children with rich nutrition and different reading experiences. As Yu Lei, a judge of the 2023 "Love Reading Children's Books 100" and professor of Kunming College, said, everything we do is nothing more than a Purpose: Respect children's rights and provide them with richer reading resources; respect children's individuality and provide them with more diverse choices; respect their childhood and provide them with books that are beneficial to their growth, and in a true sense, select books that they can read. Bring books into their book collection world and “build a book collection world that belongs to children”.

  Children’s reading needs adult guidance

  Different from other books for children, "Aiyu Children's Books 100" includes not only 100 books suitable for lower, middle and upper grades of primary school, but also 10 teachers' books. Because they believe in the power of reading, and because they know that high-quality children's reading requires the guidance and achievement of adults.

    As a researcher and promoter of children's reading, Ajia has always been a loyal believer in Aiden Chambers's "Reading Cycle". One of the most important theoretical foundations of the "Children's Reading Promotion Handbook" he wrote is This cycle places special emphasis on the "competent adult reader" in the center of the cycle, because truly enthusiastic young readers need to be made by such adult readers: Readers are made (Readers are made), readers are made Readers are made by readers.

    "The books that children need to read should also be read by adults. After reading, they should also read the books that they should read. Teacher reading is a kind of professional reading and should contribute to his personal professional growth and the development of students." Beijing. Li Huaiyuan, associate professor of the School of Education, believes that we are now in an era of change. Our reading must be carried out from three aspects: reading concepts, reading content and reading actions. "Teacher reading is related to the country, society and nation. I call on all adults, including teachers, to , only by truly conducting in-depth, structured, and data-thinking reading can we solve modern educational problems and lay a good foundation for the development of children in the future."