Hello. My name is Jarrett Krosoczka, and I write and illustrate books for children for a living. So I use my imagination as my full-time job. But well before my imagination was my vocation, my imagination saved my life.
大家好。我叫 Jarrett Krosoczka 我以写儿童书籍和给书配插图为生 想象力,因此贯穿我工作的始终 但就在想象力成为我的工作之前 它拯救了我
When I was a kid, I loved to draw, and the most talented artist I knew was my mother, but my mother was addicted to heroin. And when your parent is a drug addict, it's kind of like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football, because as much as you want to love on that person, as much as you want to receive love from that person, every time you open your heart, you end up on your back. So throughout my childhood, my mother was incarcerated and I didn't have my father because I didn't even learn his first name until I was in the sixth grade. But I had my grandparents, my maternal grandparents Joseph and Shirley, who adopted me just before my third birthday and took me in as their own, after they had already raised five children. So two people who grew up in the Great Depression, there in the very, very early '80s took on a new kid. I was the Cousin Oliver of the sitcom of the Krosoczka family, the new kid who came out of nowhere.
当我还是一个孩子时,我非常喜爱画画 对我来说,最天才的艺术家 就是妈妈 但她对海洛因上瘾 而当你的父母之一和毒品有染时 你就会有种就 查理斯布朗(snoopy的主人)想去踢足球一样的感觉 你是那么想去爱那个人 也是那么想得到那个人的关爱 但当每次你试图敞开心扉时, 在我的整个童年,母亲是被监禁起来的 我也没有父亲 甚至在上六年级之前不知道自己父亲的名字 但幸好还有祖父母在 Joseph 和Shirley 他们在我满三岁的时候收养了我 并把我带到他们家 在他们已经养了5个孩子之后。 因此在80年代早期,极度萧条中生活过来的祖父母 又收养了一个孩子. 我是那情景喜剧中 Krosoczka 家庭中的表亲 Oliver 一个不知道打哪儿来的新成员
And I would like to say that life was totally easy with them. They each smoked two packs a day, each, nonfiltered, and by the time I was six, I could order a Southern Comfort Manhattan, dry with a twist, rocks on the side, the ice on the side so you could fit more liquor in the drink.
我可以这么说,生活对他们而言很容易 他们一天抽2包烟,我指的是每个人,绝不夸张 而那时我才六岁 我会点一杯鸡尾酒 一口喝干,然后再一边发抖 鸡尾酒中的冰块,使你能适应度数更高的饮料
But they loved the hell out of me. They loved me so much. And they supported my creative efforts, because my grandfather was a self-made man. He ran and worked in a factory. My grandmother was a homemaker. But here was this kid who loved Transformers and Snoopy and the Ninja Turtles, and the characters that I read about, I fell in love with, and they became my friends. So my best friends in life were the characters I read about in books.
即使是这样,他们还是很爱我。他们是这样的爱我 以至于他们支持我创造性的尝试 祖父白手起家 他经营着一个工厂 祖母则是家庭主妇 但这个孩子喜爱变形金刚 喜爱史努比和忍者神龟 以及其他在书中认识的角色 他们成了我的朋友 因而我这辈子最好的朋友就是 书里这些卡通形象
I went to Gates Lane Elementary School in Worcester, Massachusetts, and I had wonderful teachers there, most notably in first grade Mrs. Alisch. And I just, I can just remember the love that she offered us as her students.
我上的是位于马萨诸塞州 ,伍斯特的Gates Lane小学 在那里有很多出色的老师教过我 其中我印象最深的是一年级的 Alisch 老师 尤其是她 对我们学生的爱
When I was in the third grade, a monumental event happened. An author visited our school, Jack Gantos. A published author of books came to talk to us about what he did for a living. And afterwards, we all went back to our classrooms and we drew our own renditions of his main character, Rotten Ralph. And suddenly the author appeared in our doorway, and I remember him sort of sauntering down the aisles, going from kid to kid looking at the desks, not saying a word. But he stopped next to my desk, and he tapped on my desk, and he said, "Nice cat." (Laughter) And he wandered away. Two words that made a colossal difference in my life.
我三年级那年 一件值得纪念的事情发生了 Jack Gantos ,这位作家访问了我们学校 一位出过书的作家向我们讲述 他所为生的事业 演讲结束后,我们陆续回到教室 画了有关他构造的主要人物的作品 Rotten Ralph 突然,作家出现在教室的门口 我还记得他那时闲逛一般的在走道间穿过 一言不发的一个个的浏览孩子们的作品 到我的桌子旁,他停下了 然后轻轻敲了几下桌子,说 “这猫不错” (笑声) 之后又游荡走了 这简短的话语却对我人生产生了巨大影响
When I was in the third grade, I wrote a book for the first time, "The Owl Who Thought He Was The Best Flyer." (Laughter) We had to write our own Greek myth, our own creation story, so I wrote a story about an owl who challenged Hermes to a flying race, and the owl cheated, and Hermes, being a Greek god, grew angry and bitter, and turned the owl into a moon, so the owl had to live the rest of his life as a moon while he watched his family and friends play at night. Yeah. (Laughter)
三年级的时候,我写出了自己的第一本书 “一只觉得自己是最好飞行员的猫头鹰” (笑声) 那时我们被要求自创希腊神话 自编自创,于是我就写了个猫头鹰的故事 它向赫尔墨斯下挑战飞行速度 还作弊了 赫尔墨斯,这位希腊神祗,又气又恨 把猫头鹰变成了月亮 这猫头鹰只好每夜眼睁睁地看这他的家人和朋友玩耍 自己却只能作为月亮孤独的度过余生 没错 (笑声)
My book had a title page. I was clearly worried about my intellectual property when I was eight. (Laughter) And it was a story that was told with words and pictures, exactly what I do now for a living, and I sometimes let the words have the stage on their own, and sometimes I allowed the pictures to work on their own to tell the story.
这本书还有个标题页 很显然我在8岁的时候就开始担心知识产权的问题了 (笑声) 这是本图文并茂的书 正如我现在所做的事情一样 书中有些页全靠文字讲述 也有些页我全交给 图画来阐释
My favorite page is the "About the author" page. (Laughter) So I learned to write about myself in third person at a young age.
我最爱的一页是 “ 关于作者” 页 (笑声) 看,这么小小年纪 我就会用第三人称介绍自己了
So I love that last sentence: "He liked making this book." And I liked making that book because I loved using my imagination, and that's what writing is. Writing is using your imagination on paper, and I do get so scared because I travel to so many schools now and that seems like such a foreign concept to kids, that writing would be using your imagination on paper, if they're allowed to even write now within the school hours. So I loved writing so much that I'd come home from school, and I would take out pieces of paper, and I would staple them together, and I would fill those blank pages with words and pictures just because I loved using my imagination.
尤其是最后一句话 :“ 来自他满怀热爱之作。” 我爱写书是因为喜欢让自己的想象力满页跑 而这也正是写作本身 就是一股脑儿把想象力涂到纸页上去 当我看到现在在很多学校,想象力已经变成一个陌生的概念的时候 我觉得这是一件可怕是事情 因为写作本应是和想象力相关的事情 因为孩子们如果被允许的话,即使是在上课时间也是好的。 我热爱写作以至于每每放学回家 就会拿出几张纸 把它们订在一起 然后就会又写又画把空白纸填的满满当当 仅仅因为发挥想象力是这么让我开心
And so these characters would become my friends. There was an egg, a tomato, a head of lettuce and a pumpkin, and they all lived in this refrigerator city, and in one of their adventures they went to a haunted house that was filled with so many dangers like an evil blender who tried to chop them up, an evil toaster who tried to kidnap the bread couple, and an evil microwave who tried to melt their friend who was a stick of butter. (Laughter) And I'd make my own comics too, and this was another way for me to tell stories, through words and through pictures.
我创造出的卡通形象也成了我的朋友 这是鸡蛋兄,土豆兄,莴笋头,和南瓜兄 它们都住在冰箱城 在它们的奇遇记中,它们闯进了一间鬼屋 危机四伏 有 想把它们一同绞碎的恶魔搅拌机 有 试图绑架面包夫妇的邪恶烤面包机 还有想要融化它们的朋友 黄油兄 的微波炉怪 此外我还自制漫画 这也是我通过文字和图画 来讲故事的又一种方式
Now when I was in sixth grade, the public funding all but eliminated the arts budgets in the Worcester public school system. I went from having art once a week to twice a month to once a month to not at all. And my grandfather, he was a wise man, and he saw that as a problem, because he knew that was, like, the one thing I had. I didn't play sports. I had art. So he walked into my room one evening, and he sat on the edge of my bed, and he said, "Jarrett, it's up to you, but if you'd like to, we'd like to send you to the classes at the Worcester Art Museum." And I was so thrilled. So from sixth through 12th grade, once, twice, sometimes three times a week, I would take classes at the art museum, and I was surrounded by other kids who loved to draw, other kids who shared a similar passion.
后来我上六年级的时候 伍斯特公立学校系统的公共资金 单单不承担艺术开支 我上艺术班的频率从一周一次 到一个月两次 到一个月一次,最后干脆取消了 外祖父是个聪明人 他很快就发现了这个问题,他知道这是我有的唯一乐趣 我从不参加体育活动 艺术就是我的天下 于是一天晚上,他走进我的房间 在我的床边坐下 说道:“Jarrett,这事儿你来定,我们想送你 去伍斯特艺术馆的班学习,你觉得怎么样?“ 再没有比这更令我惊喜的事情了 于是从六年级到十二年级 一周一到三次 我会去艺术馆上课 在那里我被那些热爱绘画, 有着相同热情的孩子们围绕着
Now my publishing career began when I designed the cover for my eighth grade yearbook, and if you're wondering about the style of dress I put our mascot in, I was really into Bell Biv DeVoe and MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice at the time. (Laughter) And to this day, I still can do karaoke to "Ice, Ice Baby" without looking at the screen. Don't tempt me, because I will do it.
我的出版事业是从我设计 我们八年级课本封面开始的 如果你好奇为什么我给这吉祥物穿上这样风格的服装 我可以告诉你那时我超爱Bell Biv Devoe 和 MC Hammer 以及Vanilla Ice (笑声) 即使到今天,我还能在卡拉OK中吼出 ” Ice,Ice Baby" 不带看屏幕的哦 别惹我,我真做的出来
So I get shipped off to private school, K through eight, public schools, but for some reason my grandfather was upset that somebody at the local high school had been stabbed and killed, so he didn't want me to go there. He wanted me to go to a private school, and he gave me an option. You can go to Holy Name, which is coed, or St. John's, which is all boys. Very wise man, because he knew I would, I felt like I was making the decision on my own, and he knew I wouldn't choose St. John's, so I went to Holy Name High School, which was a tough transition because, like I said, I didn't play sports, and it was very focused on sports, but I took solace in Mr. Shilale's art room. And I just flourished here. I just couldn't wait to get to that classroom every day.
我给送去了私立学校 之前从幼儿园到八年级我一直在公立学校,但因为某些原因 祖父有些不安 因为在当地高校,有人被刺杀了 因此他不想让我去公立学校 而想送我去私立学校了,那时他给了我几个选项 可以去Holy Name, 一所男女混校 也可以选男子学校 St.John's 他了解我会 自己做这个选择 他也知道我不会去 St.John's 之后我去了Holy Name 高中 这真是个艰难的转变 因为我对体育活动不感兴趣 而这个学校很重视体育 但我在 Shilale 老师的画室找到了安慰. 我天天泡在那里 每天都迫不及待的想去那个教室
So how did I make friends? I drew funny pictures of my teachers -- (Laughter) -- and I passed them around. Well, in English class, in ninth grade, my friend John, who was sitting next to me, laughed a little bit too hard. Mr. Greenwood was not pleased. (Laughter) He instantly saw that I was the cause of the commotion, and for the first time in my life, I was sent to the hall, and I thought, "Oh no, I'm doomed. My grandfather's just going to kill me." And he came out to the hallway and he said, "Let me see the paper." And I thought, "Oh no. He thinks it's a note." And so I took this picture, and I handed it to him. And we sat in silence for that brief moment, and he said to me, "You're really talented." (Laughter) "You're really good. You know, the school newspaper needs a new cartoonist, and you should be the cartoonist. Just stop drawing in my class."
你问我这样怎么交到朋友的? 那时我画了很多关于老师的搞笑漫画 (笑声) 并且在全班传着看 额,我们九年级的时候,有天英语课, 我朋友 John,我的同桌 笑的太厉害了 弄的Greenwood 老师不太高兴 (笑声) 他立刻发现了我是罪魁祸首 于是我这辈子第一次给“请”去了办公室 那时我想:“ 天,这下我完了。 外公他会杀了我的....." 这时老师出来了,站在走廊上,说 “ 把那张纸给我看看。” “ 天,不是吧,他以为那是笔记...."我想道 我拿出那张画,递给了他 一瞬间的沉默之后 他开口了 ”你太有才了.“ (笑声) ” 这画的真不错,知道么, 校报需要新的漫画家,我觉得你应该去。 但以后别在我的课上画画了啊。”
So my parents never found out about it. I didn't get in trouble. I was introduced to Mrs. Casey, who ran the school newspaper, and I was for three and a half years the cartoonist for my school paper, handling such heavy issues as, seniors are mean, freshmen are nerds, the prom bill is so expensive. I can't believe how much it costs to go to the prom. And I took the headmaster to task and then I also wrote an ongoing story about a boy named Wesley who was unlucky in love, and I just swore up and down that this wasn't about me, but all these years later it was totally me.
因此我的父母从不知道这件事情 我并没惹出麻烦,还被介绍给了 Casey老师, 她是校报的负责人 于是我担任了三年半的 校报漫画家 担负重任,像 学长们的不近人情 新人的书呆气质 毕业舞会都贵的离谱。我不敢相信它要花这么多钱 校长也没能幸免 后来我写了个连载的故事,关于一个在恋爱中不幸的男生Wesley, 我一直在努力澄清 这不是我的故事 但多年后我真变成了他
But it was so cool because I could write these stories, I could come up with these ideas, and they'd be published in the school paper, and people who I didn't know could read them. And I loved that thought, of being able to share my ideas through the printed page.
但这并没有什么坏处,相反我认为 我能写这些故事、 想出这些点子实在是一件太酷的事情了 这些故事被发表在校报上 被那些我不认识的人读到 这种可以通过印刷物 分享自己点子的感觉 我非常喜欢
On my 14th birthday, my grandfather and my grandmother gave me the best birthday present ever: a drafting table that I have worked on ever since. Here I am, 20 years later, and I still work on this table every day. On the evening of my 14th birthday, I was given this table, and we had Chinese food. And this was my fortune: "You will be successful in your work." I taped it to the top left hand of my table, and as you can see, it's still there. Now I never really asked my grandparents for anything. Well, two things: Rusty, who was a great hamster and lived a great long life when I was in fourth grade. (Laughter) And a video camera. I just wanted a video camera. And after begging and pleading for Christmas, I got a second-hand video camera, and I instantly started making my own animations on my own, and all throughout high school I made my own animations. I convinced my 10th grade English teacher to allow me to do my book report on Stephen King's "Misery" as an animated short. (Laughter)
在我14岁生日那年,我的祖父祖母 给了我有史以来最棒的一件礼物 一张制图桌,我自那起一直在用它 看,现在20年过去了 我每天还是伏在这张桌子上工作 14岁生日的那天晚上 我收到了那张桌子,吃了中餐 这就是我的财富: “ 你会在你的工作中取得成功的。” 我把这句话印在了桌子左上方 你们可以看到,它还在那里 其实 我还真没有找我的祖父母要过什么东西 不,还是有两件的:四年级的时候要了Rusty,一只可爱的仓鼠 ,它真的活了很久。 (笑声) 以及一台摄影机 我特别想要一台摄影机 在以圣诞礼物的名义下苦苦哀求之后 我终于得到了一台二手摄影机 然后立马开始做我自己的卡通动画 全由我一手制作 整个高中我都在做原创的动画片 还说服了我10年级的英语老师允许我 用短动画的方式来做 斯蒂芬金 《一号书迷》的读书报告。 (笑声)
And I kept making comics. I kept making comics, and at the Worcester Art Museum, I was given the greatest piece of advice by any educator I was ever given. Mark Lynch, he's an amazing teacher and he's still a dear friend of mine, and I was 14 or 15, and I walked into his comic book class halfway through the course, and I was so excited, I was beaming. I had this book that was how to draw comics in the Marvel way, and it taught me how to draw superheroes, how to draw a woman, how to draw muscles just the way they were supposed to be if I were to ever draw for X-Men or Spiderman. And all the color just drained from his face, and he looked at me, and he said, "Forget everything you learned." And I didn't understand. He said, "You have a great style. Celebrate your own style. Don't draw the way you're being told to draw. Draw the way you're drawing and keep at it, because you're really good."
我也一直在画漫画 一直坚持着,并且在伍斯特的艺术馆里 得到了我的教育者所能给我的最伟大建议 Mark Lynch,他是个极好的老师 也始一直是我非常要好的朋友 那时我十四五岁的样子 我在他漫画课的中途加入了 我兴奋的要命,特别开心。 我当时有一本教人如何用一种奇异的方式来表现漫画的书 其中还包括如何画超级英雄 怎样描绘一个女人,怎么绘出肌肉的肌理 如果我来画X-Men 或者 蜘蛛人的话 他们就是这个样子 他的脸一下子就失去了应有的颜色,黯淡下来, 他看着我说 “ 忘记你所学的全部。” 我没有理解。他解释到:“你有自己独特的风格。 发挥自己的特点。不要被规矩所束缚。 坚持你自己的方式不要改变 因为这样真的很好。“
Now when I was a teenager, I was angsty as any teenager was, but after 17 years of having a mother who was in and out of my life like a yo-yo and a father who was faceless, I was angry. And when I was 17, I met my father for the first time, upon which I learned I had a brother and sister I had never known about. And on the day I met my father for the first time, I was rejected from the Rhode Island School of Design, my one and only choice for college.
那时做为一个少年,我和其他人一样多愁善感 但这17年,在拥有一个像悠悠球一样在我生命中 进进出出的母亲 以及一个从未露面的父亲之后,我有些愤世嫉俗 而17岁那年,我第一次和自己的父亲见了面 那时我才知道我有一个哥哥和一个姐姐 并且就在我们见面的那天 我被我选择的唯一一个大学 Rhode Island 学院拒绝了
But it was around this time I went to Camp Sunshine to volunteer a week and working with the most amazing kids, kids with leukemia, and this kid Eric changed my life. Eric didn't live to see his sixth birthday, and Eric lives with me every day.
但在这段时间,我去了阳光夏令营 去做了一个星期的志愿者,和那些最神奇的孩子共事 那些患有白血病的孩子,其中一个叫Eric的孩子改变了我的人生 他没能活过6岁 之前的那些时光他是同我一块度过的
So after this experience, my art teacher, Mr. Shilale, he brought in these picture books, and I thought, "Picture books for kids!" and I started writing books for young readers when I was a senior in high school. Well, I eventually got to the Rhode Island School of Design. I transferred to RISD as a sophomore, and it was there that I took every course that I could on writing, and it was there that I wrote a story about a giant orange slug who wanted to be friends with this kid. The kid had no patience for him. And I sent this book out to a dozen publishers and it was rejected every single time, but I was also involved with the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, an amazing camp for kids with all sorts of critical illnesses, and it's those kids at the camp that read my stories, and I read to them, and I saw that they responded to my work.
在经历了这些之后,我的美术老师,Shilale 带来了这些图画书 我灵光一闪:“ 给孩子们看的画书!“ 于是在高中三年级的时候 我开始为年轻读者写书 我最终还是进入了Rhode Island 设计学院 作为一名大二的转校生。 在那里的时光,我尽可能的上所有的写作课 就是那时候我写出了一个关于 一个想和这个孩子做朋友的巨大橙色鼻涕虫的故事 这小孩对它一点耐心也没有。 我试着把这本书送去了一大堆的出版商那里 但每次都遭了拒 但我加入了 Hole in the Wall Gang 露营 它是为那些有着各种重病的孩子所办的,神奇的地方 正是那里的孩子,成为了我读者 当我给他们讲这些故事的时候,我可以看到他们给我的回应
I graduated from RISD. My grandparents were very proud, and I moved to Boston, and I set up shop. I set up a studio and I tried to get published. I would send out my books. I would send out hundreds of postcards to editors and art directors, but they would go unanswered. And my grandfather would call me every week, and he would say, "Jarrett, how's it going? Do you have a job yet?" Because he had just invested a significant amount of money in my college education. And I said, "Yes, I have a job. I write and illustrate children's books." And he said, "Well, who pays you for that?" And I said, "No one, no one, no one just yet. But I know it's going to happen."
后来我从RISD 毕业了,祖父母非常自豪 再后来我搬去了波士顿,自立门户 创立了一个工作室,试图出版那些书 我把自己的书,还有上百张明信片 寄给编辑和美术导演 但它们仿佛入海的石,悄无声息 每周我的祖父都会给我打电话 有时他会问,“ Jarrett,最近怎么样,你现在找到工作了吗?” 因为他在我的大学教育中 投入了很大一笔钱 我回答道,“ 找到了啊,我编写儿童书籍 ." 他又问 ” 那谁为你买单呢?” 我说 “ 还没有,暂时还没有 . 不过我知道很快就会有了.”
Now, I used to work the weekends at the Hole in the Wall off-season programming to make some extra money as I was trying to get my feet off the ground, and this kid who was just this really hyper kid, I started calling him "Monkey Boy," and I went home and wrote a book called "Good Night, Monkey Boy." And I sent out one last batch of postcards. And I received an email from an editor at Random House with a subject line, "Nice work!" Exclamation point.
那时,我常常几个周末几个周末的投入 Hole in the Wall 的淡季工作 为了能自立,我得多赚些外快 这孩子一直非常精力旺盛 于是我给他取了个外号 “ 猴仔" 回到家后,我写了一本书 叫做 《晚安,猴仔》 并寄出了最后一批明信片 不久之后我就收到了一封来自兰登书屋编辑的邮件 标题是 ” 好样的! "
"Dear Jarrett, I received your postcard. I liked your art, so I went to your website and I'm wondering if you ever tried writing any of your own stories, because I really like your art and it looks like there are some stories that go with them. Please let me know if you're ever in New York City." And this was from an editor at Random House Children's Books.
" Dear Jarrett, 我们收到了你的明信片. 我很喜欢你的作品,于是去了你的网站 我很好奇你有没有试着写过你自己的故事 我真的很喜欢你的作品,感觉这之中有这一些故事 如果你到了纽约,请务必通知我." 这封邮件来自Random House少儿书籍的编辑
So the next week I "happened" to be in New York. (Laughter) And I met with this editor, and I left New York for a contract for my first book, "Good Night, Monkey Boy," which was published on June 12, 2001.
于是下一周我 “正好“出现在纽约 (笑声) 于是我见到了这个编辑 之后为了我的第一本书我离开了纽约 ” 晚安,猴仔“ 后来在2001年的 六月12号出版
And my local paper celebrated the news. The local bookstore made a big deal of it. They sold out of all of their books. My friend described it as a wake, but happy, because everyone I ever knew was there in line to see me, but I wasn't dead. I was just signing books. My grandparents, they were in the middle of it. They were so happy. They couldn't have been more proud. Mrs. Alisch was there. Mr. Shilale was there. Mrs. Casey was there. Mrs. Alisch cut in front of the line and said, "I taught him how to read." (Laughter)
当地的报纸还报导庆祝了这事。 书店也大幅宣传了这件事 进的书都被卖完了 我的朋友说这事挺累的但也很让人开心 因为所有人都排着队想来见我 这可不是因为我去世了,我在签售呢 祖父母在人群之中 感到非常高兴。他们实在是自豪的不能更自豪了 Alisch,Shilale,Casey这几位老师都在这里 Alisch老师插到了队伍的前排,一边说 ”是我教会他识字的。“ (笑声)
And then something happened that changed my life. I got my first piece of significant fan mail, where this kid loved Monkey Boy so much that he wanted to have a Monkey Boy birthday cake. For a two-year-old, that is like a tattoo. (Laughter) You know? You only get one birthday per year. And for him, it's only his second. And I got this picture, and I thought, "This picture is going to live within his consciousness for his entire life. He will forever have this photo in his family photo albums."
后来发生了件改变了我人生的事情 我收到了第一封正式的粉丝来信 来自一个非常热爱猴仔的孩子 他很想要一个猴仔的生日蛋糕 给一个两岁的男生,看起来就像个纹身一样 想想看你一年就只有一次生日 对他而言,是他的两岁 于是我拍了这张照片, " 这张照片会一直存在在他的意识之中 这一生他都会把这张照片 好好的保留在家庭相册里。“
So that photo, since that moment, is framed in front of me while I've worked on all of my books.
这张照片,从那刻起 就成了我在创作其他作品时,照亮前路的光芒
I have 10 picture books out. "Punk Farm," "Baghead," "Ollie the Purple Elephant." I just finished the ninth book in the "Lunch Lady" series, which is a graphic novel series about a lunch lady who fights crime. I'm expecting the release of a chapter book called "Platypus Police Squad: The Frog Who Croaked." And I travel the country visiting countless schools, letting lots of kids know that they draw great cats.
至今我已经出版了10本图画书了 《朋克庄园》《布袋头》《紫象Ollie》 我刚刚完成 《午餐女士》系列的第九本书,这是个绘图小说系列 关于一个和罪恶势力作斗争的食堂大妈 我很期待 那本章回小说 《鸭嘴兽警察队:呱呱叫的青蛙》的发行 我在全国旅行,拜访了无数的学校 让很多孩子相信他们画的猫很棒
And I meet Bagheads. Lunch ladies treat me really well. And I got to see my name in lights because kids put my name in lights. Twice now, the "Lunch Lady" series has won the Children's Choice Book of the Year in the third or fourth grade category, and those winners were displayed on a jumbotron screen in Times Square. "Punk Farm" and "Lunch Lady" are in development to be movies, so I am a movie producer and I really do think, thanks to that video camera I was given in ninth grade. I've seen people have "Punk Farm" birthday parties, people have dressed up as "Punk Farm" for Halloween, a "Punk Farm" baby room, which makes me a little nervous for the child's well-being in the long term.
我遇见了一大群 布袋头 还有对我很好的 午餐女士们 我看见自己的名字变得闪闪发亮 是这些孩子给我的荣耀 ”午餐女士“系列曾两次获得了 ”年度孩子最喜爱图书 “三四年级组的奖项 获奖者的姓名被陈列在 时代广场的巨大液晶屏幕上 《朋克农庄》和《午餐女士》都将被拍成电影 而我是电影制作人 我必须说的是,多亏了那台我在九年级 得到的摄影机 我见过 人们举办《朋克庄园》的生日聚会 在万圣节的时候打扮成《朋克庄园》里角色的样子 这是个朋克庄园风的婴儿房 弄的我有点担心这个孩子今后的长期发展
And I get the most amazing fan mail, and I get the most amazing projects, and the biggest moment for me came last Halloween. The doorbell rang and it was a trick-or-treater dressed as my character. It was so cool.
我还收到了这些绝妙的粉丝来信 还有最让人叫绝的设计 对我而言最重要的瞬间来自上个万圣节 门铃响后跳出来个 ”不给糖就捣乱“的孩子 打扮成我笔下角色的样子。这实在太帅了
Now my grandparents are no longer living, so to honor them, I started a scholarship at the Worcester Art Museum for kids who are in difficult situations but whose caretakers can't afford the classes. And it displayed the work from my first 10 years of publishing, and you know who was there to celebrate? Mrs. Alisch.
如今我的祖父母已经不在人世 为了纪念他们,我在伍斯特的艺术馆开设了一项奖学金 给那些处于艰难状况 抚养人无法负担艺术课程费用的孩子们 在那里展出我出版事业前十年的作品 猜猜谁在那儿为我庆祝?是Alisch老师
I said, "Mrs. Alisch, how are you?"
我问道 ' Alisch老师,你现在怎么样了?“
And she responded with, "I'm here." (Laughter)
她回答道:”我不是在这儿么。“ (笑声)
That's true. You are alive, and that's pretty good right now.
的确。您还活着,而且状况不错。
So the biggest moment for me, though, my most important job now is I am a dad myself, and I have two beautiful daughters, and my goal is to surround them by inspiration, by the books that are in every single room of our house to the murals I painted in their rooms to the moments for creativity where you find, in quiet times, by making faces on the patio to letting her sit in the very desk that I've sat in for the past 20 years. Thank you. (Applause)
但我人生中最重大的一个瞬间 是我当了爸爸 我有两个美丽的女儿 我现在的目标就是让他们的生活中处处充满着灵感之光 通过把书摆在屋里的每个房间 通过我在墙上画的壁画 通过把握 在安静之中发现的创意瞬间 通过在天井上画出笑脸 通过让她们坐在那张 我已经坐了20年的桌子上。 谢谢大家。(掌声)