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适读人群 :6-9岁 The nostalgic charm of Avonlea comes alive in Lucy Maud Montgomery's heart-warming tale set on the quaint island of Prince William about an aging brother and sister, Mathew and Marilla Cuthbert, and their decision to adopt a young boy to help with chores around their farm. However, as the result of a misunderstanding the boy turns out to be a feisty, independent, and wildly imaginative redheaded girl named Anne. Marilla's first reaction to this news is, "What use is she to us?" Wherein Mathew replies, "We might be of some use to her." Throughout this moving story these two statements mix and meld together so richly and completely that they become one truth. Three lives are changed so dramatically that none can imagine life without the others. Each new day brings a new set of adventures, often hilarious and always uplifting. Anne's vivid and overactive imagination is the cause of many mishaps, but her saving grace is her heart of gold. Her best friend and "kindred spirit," Diana, and her handsome admirer, Gilbert Blythe, often find themselves unintentional victims of Anne's escapades. Narrator Shelly Frasier's pleasant voice is especially enjoyable during the rapid ramblings of Anne and as the soft-spoken, slow-paced Mathew. Her voice reflects the human qualities of each character, switching seamlessly between broken and despaired, curt and crisp, or dreamy and absent-minded. This perennial classic, divided into convenient three minute tracks and containing a short biography of the author, is a must have for expanding audiobook collections.
内容简介
When the Cathberts adopt an orphan, they aren't prepared for Anne Shirley. But the spunky heroine wins everyone's heart and finds herself a true home at last.
作者简介
Lucy Maud Montgomery was a popular Canadian author in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She is know for her novels, poetry, and short stories. Some of her well know titles are Anne of Avonlea, Kilmeny of the Orchard and Pat of Silver Bush. She died in 1942.
露西·莫德·蒙哥玛利,生于1874年,享誉世界的加拿大女作家,擅长小说创作。代表作品为《绿山墙的安妮》,被誉为“世界上最甜蜜的少女成长故事”。
她在以小说《清秀佳人》(1908)赢得世界性的成功以前是一名教师和记者。这是一个关于一名勇敢的孤儿的感伤小说,取材于作者自己小时的经历和她在爱德华王子岛上的农村生活与风俗。接下来的六本续集从安妮的少女时期写到她为人母,但都不太成功。她还写作了别的系列青年小说、几本故事集和两本成人小说。
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精彩书评
"Aficionados of the auburn-tressed waif will find Anne of Green Gables lavishly illustrated."
--Smithsonian Magazine
精彩书摘
Mrs. Rachel Lynde lived just where the Avonlea main road dipped down into a little hollow, fringed with alders and ladies' eardrops and traversed by a brook that had its source away back in the woods of the old Cuthbert place; it was reputed to be an intricate, headlong brook in its earlier course through those woods, with dark secrets of pool and cascade; but by the time it reached Lynde's Hollow it was a quiet, well-conducted little stream, for not even a brook could run past Mrs. Rachel Lynde's door without due regard for decency and decorum; it probably was conscious that Mrs. Rachel was sitting at her window, keeping a sharp eye on everything that passed, from brooks and children up, and that if she noticed anything odd or out of place she would never rest until she had ferreted out the whys and wherefores thereof.
There are plenty of people, in Avonlea and out of it, who can attend closely to their neighbors business by dint of neglecting their own; but Mrs. Rachel Lynde was one of those capable creatures who can manage their own concerns and those of other folks into the bargain. She was a notable housewife; her work was always done and well done; she "ran" the Sewing Circle, helped run the Sunday-school, and was the strongest prop of the, Church Aid Society and Foreign Missions Auxiliary. Yet with all this Mrs. Rachel found abundant time to sit for hours at her kitchen window, knitting "cotton warp" quilts--she had, knitted sixteen of them, as Avonlea housekeepers were wont to tell in awed voices-and keeping a sharp eye on the main road that crossed the hollow and wound up the steep red hill beyond. Since Avonlea occupied a little triangular peninsula jutting out into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, with water on two sides of it, anybody who went out of it or into it had to pass over that hill road and so run the unseen gauntlet of Mrs. Rachel's all-seeing eye.
She was sitting there one afternoon in early June. The sun was coming in at the window warm and bright; the orchard on the slope below the house was in a bridal flush of pinky-white bloom, hummed over by a myriad of bees. Thomas Lynde-a meek little man whom Avonlea people called "Rachel Lynde's husband"-was sowing his late turnip seed on the hill field beyond the barn; and Matthew Cuthbert ought to have been sowing his on the big red brook field away over by Green Gables. Mrs. Rachel knew that he ought because she had heard him tell Peter Morrison the evening before in William J. Blaire's store over at Carmody that he meant to sow his turnip seed the next afternoon. Peter had asked him, of course, for Matthew Cuthbert had never been known to volunteer information about anything in his whole life.
And yet here was Matthew Cuthbert, at half-past three on the afternoon of a busy day, placidly driving over the hollow and up the hill; moreover, he wore a white collar and his best suit of clothes, which was plain proof that he was going out of Avonlea; and he had the buggy and the sorrel mare, which betokened that he was going a considerable distance. Now, where was Matthew Cuthbert going and why was he going there?
Had it been any other man in Avonlea Mrs. Rachel, deftly putting this and that together, might have given a pretty good guess as to both questions. But Matthew so rarely went from home that it must be something pressing and unusual which was taking him; he was the shyest man alive and hated to have to go among strangers or to any place where he might have to talk. Matthew, dressed up with a white collar and driving in a buggy, was something that didn't happen often. Mrs. Rachel, ponder as she might, could make nothing of it and her afternoo's enjoyment was spoiled.
"I'll just step over to Green Gables after tea and find out from Marilla where he's gone and why," the worthy woman finally concluded. "He doesn't generally go to town this time of year and he new visits; if he'd run out of turnip seed he wouldn't dress up and take the buggy to go for more; he wasn't driving fast enough to be going for the doctor. Yet something must have happened since List night to start him off. I'm clean puzzled, that's what, and I won't know a minute's peace of mind or conscience until I know what has taken Matthew Cuthbert out of Avonlea today-"
Accordingly after tea Mrs. Rachel set out; she had not far to go; the big, rambling orchard-embowered house where the Cuthberts lived was a scant quarter of a mile up the road from Lynde's Hollow. To be sure, the long lane made it a good deal further. Matthew Cuthberfs father, as shy and silent as his son after him, had got as far away as he possibly could from his fellow men without actually retreating into the woods when he founded his homestead. Green Gables was built at the furthest edge of his cleared land and there it was to this day, barely visible from the main road along which all the other Avonlea houses were so sociably situated. Mrs. Rachel Lynde did not call living in such a place living at all.
1. It's just staying, that's what," she said as she stepped along the deep-rutted, grassy lane bordered with wild rose bushes. "Ifs no wonder Matthew and Marilia are both a little odd, living away back here by themselves. Trees aren't much company, though dear knows if they were there'd be enough of them. I'd ruther look at people. To be sure, they seem contented enough; but then, I suppose, they're used to it. A body can get used to anything even to being hanged, as the Irishman said."
想象的远航:一个关于勇气、友谊与成长的故事 书名: 《星辰之下的秘密花园》 作者: 艾米莉亚·布莱克伍德 适合年龄: 8-12岁 页数: 320页 装帧: 精装,附带精美插图 --- 引言:被遗忘的门扉 在维多利亚时代末期,当蒸汽机和新发明正以不可思议的速度改变着世界时,有一个地方似乎被时间遗忘了。那便是坐落在英国多塞特郡海岸边,被当地人称为“迷雾角”的“月桂庄园”。 故事的主人公,十岁的莱拉·佩恩,并不是一个被寄养的孩子,但她同样感到自己像一片漂泊的叶子。她的父母是忙碌的博物学家,常年在遥远的异国他乡进行考察,只留下莱拉跟随沉默寡言的祖母生活在这座庄园里。月桂庄园,与其说是一个家,不如说是一座巨大的、布满了灰尘的纪念碑,里面堆满了祖父留下的奇特收藏:被封印的昆虫标本、褪色的地图、以及无数没有上锁但却写着“禁止靠近”的箱子。 莱拉拥有一头火焰般的红发,眼睛里闪烁着比海边鹅卵石更深邃的蓝光。她不像镇上的其他女孩那样热衷于缝纫或茶会,她的世界存在于书页之间,以及她那颗永远不安分的、渴望冒险的心中。她最大的秘密,是她坚信月桂庄园的巨大、被藤蔓缠绕的后花园中,藏着一个通往“回音谷”的秘密入口。 第一部分:石墙后的低语 莱拉的生活平静得近乎枯燥,直到一个暴风雨的夜晚,一个神秘的访客打破了这份沉寂。 这个访客名叫芬尼克斯·格雷,一个比莱拉大两岁的男孩。他自称是附近一家新搬来的贵族家庭的远亲,但他的到来却充满了疑点。芬尼克斯穿着不合时宜的深色长裤,眼神中带着一种老成持重的谨慎,他随身携带的皮质笔记本里画满了复杂的机械图纸和奇怪的符号。 他并非为了友谊而来,而是为了寻找一样东西——一个失踪已久的“星盘罗盘”。根据芬尼克斯的讲述,这个罗盘并非用于航海,而是用于“校准时间的微小偏差”。起初,莱拉对这个故事嗤之以鼻,认为这不过是芬尼克斯编造的谎言,好让他能潜入庄园的禁区。然而,当芬尼克斯展示了他能够用手指轻轻拨动一朵枯萎花朵的颜色,使其恢复鲜活的“小把戏”时,莱拉的好奇心被彻底点燃了。 他们结成了暂时的盟友,目标一致:探索庄园的秘密。 莱拉的祖母,那位总是穿着厚重黑色羊毛衫的老夫人,对两人的活动保持着极度的警惕。她总是告诫莱拉:“有些门,一旦打开,就再也关不上了,孩子。记住,好奇心是把双刃剑。” 在一次对旧图书馆的探索中,莱拉和芬尼克斯发现了一本日记,文字古老而难以辨认。通过莱拉出色的模仿能力(她曾偷偷练习过模仿祖父的笔迹),他们解读出了一段关于庄园的真正历史:月桂庄园的创始人,一位被遗忘的天文学家,曾试图通过某种装置来捕捉和储存“午夜时分最纯净的月光”。 第二部分:回音谷的真相 莱拉的直觉将她引向了花园深处那堵被苔藓覆盖的石墙。在芬尼克斯的帮助下,他们找到了一个几乎看不见的黄铜把手。当他们转动把手时,不是想象中的通道开启,而是一阵低沉的、类似风琴共鸣的声音传出。 他们发现的“回音谷”,实际上是一个被精心设计的地下迷宫。这个迷宫的设计,旨在测试进入者的“心智的纯净度”。 迷宫的挑战并非物理上的陷阱,而是心理上的考验: 1. “遗忘之镜”: 一面能映照出你最害怕失去的事物的镜子。莱拉在那里看到了自己被父母遗忘的孤独景象,但她坚强地告诉镜子:“我的想象力是我的港湾。” 镜子随之破碎。 2. “选择之厅”: 摆放着两种截然不同的路径——一条通往财富与安逸,另一条则通往知识与未知。芬尼克斯毫不犹豫地选择了后者,因为他真正的目标是“理解,而非拥有”。 在迷宫的深处,他们找到了“星盘罗盘”。但它并非他们想象中的高科技仪器,而是一个由紫水晶和生锈的齿轮组成的复杂仪器。 就在他们触碰到罗盘的瞬间,祖母出现了。她的面容不再冷漠,而是充满了疲惫和深深的悲伤。 祖母解释道,罗盘是她丈夫——莱拉的祖父——留下的遗产。祖父痴迷于捕捉“瞬间的美丽”,他相信通过这个罗盘,可以让人在极短的时间内体验到一生的所有色彩和情感,但这需要巨大的精神代价。 第三部分:时间的校准与告别 祖母透露,芬尼克斯的家族与祖父有着一段陈旧的恩怨。芬尼克斯的父亲也曾试图获取罗盘,但目的在于利用它来修正自己过去犯下的一个“小小的错误”,一个涉及失去友谊的过往。 莱拉和芬尼克斯意识到,这个罗盘并非解决问题的钥匙,而是一个诱惑。如果强行启动,它可能会带来无法预料的混乱。 面对祖母的恳求,以及对芬尼克斯坦白内心恐惧的理解,莱拉做出了一个成熟的决定:他们不启动罗盘,而是共同修复它。 在接下来的几周里,莱拉用她天马行空的想象力,帮助芬尼克斯理解祖父的设计理念——美存在于事物的不完美和流逝之中。芬尼克斯则教导莱拉如何运用逻辑和精确的计算来稳定那些摇摇欲坠的齿轮。 他们最终没有修复罗盘到可以“捕获瞬间”的程度,而是将其变成了一个精美的、能够精确显示“今日日出时间和日落时间”的装饰品。 芬尼克斯的家族最终没有找到他们想要的东西,但他找到了更宝贵的东西:一个真诚的友谊和对过去和解的可能。他向莱拉承诺,他会用自己未来的发明,去创造新的、真正有益于人们的东西,而不是去弥补无法挽回的过去。 当芬尼克斯最终告别月桂庄园时,他留下了一张小小的草图,上面画着一个可以自动整理书架的微型装置,并在旁边写着:“致拥有最丰富想象力的图书馆管理员。” 结语:属于自己的光芒 莱拉站在月桂庄园的窗前,看着远方的海雾散去。祖母递给她一把小小的钥匙,那是属于花园的,也是属于她自己想象力的钥匙。 莱拉明白了,真正的冒险并非来自遥远的异国或神秘的装置,而是源于你如何看待你所处的日常。她不再需要通过镜子寻找慰藉,因为她知道,自己的勇气和对世界的好奇心,就是那束最明亮的光。她拿起笔,开始为自己未曾言说的经历写下第一页故事,她知道,她的想象力,远比任何魔法罗盘都更加强大和持久。 《星辰之下的秘密花园》 是一部献给所有相信“世界远比表面上看起来更奇妙”的孩子们的颂歌。它探讨了友谊的复杂性、家族的秘密,以及成长的真正含义——即学会如何珍视此刻,而非试图捕捉永恒。