This is an autobiographical tale of a teddy bear named Otto.
Otto is a German-born teddy bear. His first memories are of being
stitched together and being given to David, a Jewish boy living in
Germany before WWII. David and his best-friend Oskar always play
with Otto, using him for pranks, games and even teaching him to
type on a typewriter. Life is a lot of fun for the Otto. However,
one day, David starts to wear a yellow star on his jacket. He and
his parents are soon carted away by men in leather coats and
uniforms. David decides to give his dear teddy bear to Oskar. Many
lonely days pass for Oskar and Otto. But even gloomier days soon
arrive when Osakar''s father is drafted into the army and the
bombings start. One day, a sudden explosion sends Otto flying
through the air and into the middle a raging battle-field. The
teddy bear is spotted by a soldier, but the moment the soldier
picks Otto up, they are both shot through the chest. Otto and the
soldier, an American G.I., are taken away to a hospital. In
hospital, the soldier keeps Otto by his side. When he recovers, he
pins a medal on Otto''s chest, saying that Otto saved his life,
taking the brunt of the bullet. The story makes papers and Otto
becomes a mascot of the soldier''s regiment. The teddy bear is then
taken to America and is given to a sweet girl called Jasmin, the
soldier''s daughter. But Otto''s new home and happiness is once again
brutally ended when he is snatched away by mean and violent street
urchins, who hit and trample on him and throw him into a bin. Otto
is then picked up by an antiques dealer and taken to his shop.
Years and years go by, until one rainy evening, when a bulky man
stops and carefully examines the shop window. The man recognizes
the bear instantly buys him. It is Oskar, Otto''s old friend. The
story of Oskar, a German tourist and survivor of the war finding
his teddy bear in America soon makes the papers. And the day after
Otto''s picture appears in the paper, Oskar''s telephone rings: it is
his old friend David. And so, the three friends finally reunite,
sharing the sorrows and pains of war and living a peaceful and
happy life together. Otto now keeps himself busy, typing the story
of his life on David''s typewriter. Children will become attached to
this loving, innocent protagonist, and will naturally be interested
in his life story. Tomi Ungerer deals with one of the darkest
chapters of history and pulls off the challenge admirably. This
tale will prompt reflection and important questions without causing
undue fear.
關於作者：
Born in Strasbourg, in the Alsace region of France, in 1931,
Tomi Ungerer started drawing as a small boy. Growing up in
Nazi-occupied Strasbourg, drawing caricatures was for him a form of
resistance. Described on his school-leaving certificate as a
''depraved and rebellious character'', he hitch-hiked around Europe,
getting as far as Lapland, rather than going to university.
Inspired by his heroes Saul Steinberg, James Thurber and Charles
Addams, Ungerer landed in New York in 1956, with only $60 dollars
in his pocket and a suitcase full of drawings. He quickly found
success as an illustrator and caricaturist, becoming a star almost
overnight. He published his first book for children, The Mellops Go
Flying, in 1957, and went on to publish 80 books over the next ten
years, covering all aspects of his work. Fluent in French, German
and English, Ungerer regards himself as Alsatian first and European
second, and has described New York City, where he lived and worked
for 15 years, as the love of his life. However, his firmly held and
clearly expressed beliefs and opinions - against racism,
McCarthyism, the Vietnam War, against hypocrisy in any form - made
life in the US increasingly difficult, and for a while, his books
were banned from any libraries receiving public funding. He left
the US in 1971 on a sudden impulse, when he and his second wife
Yvonne moved to a farm in Nova Scotia, where they raised sheep,
pigs and goats for a number of years, before moving to Ireland to
raise their family. Tomi Ungerer now divides his time between his
farm in Ireland, near the ocean that he loves, and Strasbourg, the
city of his birth, where a museum dedicated to his work opened in
late 2007. Ungerer''s work outside the world of children''s
literature is incredibly varied, ranging from caustic satire to
beautifully observed drawings from nature, from movie posters to
darkly erotic illustrations he is not afraid or ashamed of
depicting the most extreme fantasies, be they his own or imagined
by others. As a graphic artist, he created advertising campaigns
for Madison Avenue agencies, publications like The New York Times
and the Village Voice, as well as for people like Willy Brandt, who
led the Social Democratic Party of Germany for more than 20 years.
A pacifist, Ungerer also made memorable, provocative posters for
causes he believed in, such as the anti-Vietnam War movement, while
his ''Black PowerWhite Power'' poster, a comment on the American
Civil Rights Movement, has become iconic. Tomi Ungerer has said
while many people can see only good and evil, he is particularly
interested in the no-man''s land between the two, as this is the
most interesting place, where lessons can be learned. In the 26
books for children due to be published by Phaidon, Ungerer covers
themes such as prejudice, poverty and the holocaust, but his
fantastic repertoire also includes such charming animals as
Adelaide, the flying kangaroo, and Orlando, the courageous vulture.
With his books, Ungerer wants to inspire children''s curiosity and
imagination, but also to let them know that it''s OK to have
problems, because you can find the courage to fight them - among
the many aphorisms and mottoes he coins and collects, his favourite
is ''Don''t hope, cope!''. When it comes to his own life and work,
Ungerer''s three key principles are enthusiasm, discipline and
pragmatism. He is a firm believer in the importance of a good
vocabulary, good manners, and the acquisition of practical skills
like cooking, first aid and making knots, of creativity of any
kind, because ''you are what you make''. An internationally renowned
artist and a superlative storyteller, Ungerer has received numerous
awards for his work, including the Erich Kastner Prize for
literature in 2003, the Hans Christian Andersen Award for
illustration in 1998, and the Jakob Burckhardt prize of the
Goethe-Stiftung, Basel in 1983. In 1992, the American Bibliographic
Institute named him one of 500 ''World Leaders of Influence'', and in
the same year, he was awarded the Bundesverdienstkreuz, the Order
of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, for his contribution
to cultural exchange and communication between France and Germany.
The Council of Europe in Strasbourg named him an ambassador for
children and education in 2000, and in 2002 Jack Lang, then French
minister of education, named him an Officier de la Legion
d''Honneur.
購物車/收銀台(0) | 在線留言板
| 付款方式
| 聯絡我們
| 運費計算
| 幫助中心 |
加入書簽
HOME
新書上架
