A Dr. Seuss Equivalent in Chinese

[Steingletscher]

Is there any equivalent of Dr. Seuss in Chinese kids books? He (or she) doesn't have to have the morals that Dr. Seuss has, I'm just looking for a kid's author that incorporates word-play in his work.

I thought about this since I'm reading Chinese kids books in addition to my textbooks to make reading much more enjoyable. Dr. Seuss came into mind since I'll start using some of his books to teach a 3 year old girl English, since it is especially helpful in developing an ear for the subtleties of pronunciation and getting a flow of the language ( for example:

"When beetles fight these battles in a bottle with their paddles

and the bottle's on a poodle and the poodle's eating noodles...

...they call this a muddle puddle tweetle poodle beetle noodle

bottle paddle battle").

Perhaps its just English that can do such things. But my intent for books of this sort is not just for reading, but also listening and pronunciation since I intend to have a friend read them aloud to me.

[hbuchtel]

All of the Dr. Seuss children's books have been translated into Chinese - I recommend the series published by Yuan-Liou Publishing, Taipei. You should be able to find them all in your local public library.

I wrote a tongue-in-cheek review of two different Chinese translations of 'Green Eggs and Ham' here.

[anonymoose]

On a similar note, does anyone know if there has been a translation of Jabberwocky into Chinese, or any other language for that matter, or would it be completely impossible?

[hackinger]

> On a similar note, does anyone know if there has been a translation of Jabberwocky into Chinese, or any other language for that matter, or would it be completely impossible?

http://www76.pair.com/keithlim/jabberwocky/

[li3wei1]

"Twas brillig,. . . "

Is that an existential sentence?

[hbuchtel]

I came across this exhaustive list of Children's books in Chinese, put together by the PTA of an international school in Hong Kong:

http://www.isfpta.org/documents/PTA_ch_bk_list.pdf

It has a description of each book, and although there didn't seem to be any that made extensive use of word play, there ought to be others that meet your needs.

[Meng Lelan]

I know I read Chinese versions of Dr. Suess to my own kids but they never had that fun-with-words quality of the original English version. The whole thing fell flat like soda pop with the fizz let out of it. And I have been wondering for a long time if there was anything like Dr. Suess written in original Chinese to be read to native Chinese kids with the same idea of fun-with-words.

[li3wei1]

There are really two strands to Dr Suess's work. He wrote a lot of books that are aimed at helping children to learn to read. Green Eggs and Ham, I think, falls into that category, with few made-up words, lots of rhymes, repeated prepositions. This, I think, could be done in Chinese. Imagine a story where 峰，缝，锋，逢，蜂，and 风，凤，枫，疯，讽 all appeared in close proximity, with over-the-top illustrations to keep them all clear. I'd like to read something like that. The other is pure flights of fancy, like If I Ran the Zoo, with made-up words and imaginary worlds that just let children's imaginations wander off and get lost forever. And by 'children', I mean anyone under the age of 250. This would be harder. You either make up new characters, in which case you have to provide the pronunciation somehow, or you make novel combinations of existing characters, in which case it might be more confusing, especially for younger readers.

[Steingletscher]

Linguist Chao Yuen Ren translated Jabberwocky into Chinese and created new characters in the process to imitate the nonsense of Carroll. I haven't found a copy of the translation on the internet, so I don't know what it looks like. I'm also sure that my reading ability is nowhere near enough to be able to read it though.

If there isn't, then what do you recommend I read? Would poetry help at all, or is that way too advanced? Poetry for kids (like some of Shel Silverstein; if there is any)?

[hackinger]

Google says (Jabberwocky in Chinese):

http://bbs.tianya.cn...-134244-1.shtml

http://answers.yahoo...11001628AAb6iTP

[Meng Lelan]

li3wei1, I'd like to read something like that too, that was what I was feeling when reading the Chinese versions of Dr. Seuss. I am sure the translations were adequate but it wasn't that same feeling of playfulness with language.

Imagine a story where 峰，缝，锋，逢，蜂，and 风，凤，枫，疯，讽 all appeared in close proximity, with over-the-top illustrations to keep them all clear. I'd like to read something like that

[hbuchtel]

Imagine a story where 峰，缝，锋，逢，蜂，and 风，凤，枫，疯，讽 all appeared in close proximity, with over-the-top illustrations to keep them all clear.

There is at least one book in that PDF list that seems to fit that description:

小樹苗拼字故事書系列 (共八本)

Sesame Chinese Characters of the Same Bushou (8 books)

種樹的人

Tree Planters

從部首的角度提高孩子的識字能力和興趣,增進對漢字結構的敏感,對幫我老大加快識字有過幫助。

The series increases kids' interest in Chinese characters and enhances their sensitivity to Chinese characters' structure by grouping characters of the same bushou (root) together to make a sensible and relevant story.

ISBN: 9789629831844

[hbuchtel]

Poetry for kids (like some of Shel Silverstein; if there is any)?

I think you'll find that most of the 'classic' English children's books have been translated into Chinese. Here is an example from Silverstein's 'A Light in the Attic', translated by 鄭小芸:

HOT DOG

I have a hot dog for a pet,

The only kind my folks would let

Me get.

He does smell sort of bad

And yet,

He absolutely never gets

The sofa wet.

We have a butcher for a vet,

The strangest vet you ever met.

Guess we're the weirdest family yet,

To have a hot dog for a pet.

热狗

我的宠物是热狗，

爸妈只准我养

这种狗。

闻起来确实有点臭，

但绝不会尿得沙发

湿透透。

我们的兽医是个屠夫，

没有比他便怪的人物。

说到怪还是我们家最奇怪，

竟然养热狗当宠物。

[Meng Lelan]

小樹苗拼字故事書系列 (共八本)

Sesame Chinese Characters of the Same Bushou (8 books)

種樹的人

Tree Planters

Would like to see a pdf sample page from each to see how they do that.