Western Books in Chinese Home » Chinese Books » Story Books » Western Books in Chinese

Accustomed to the orderly and uneventful life in the ant hole, all the ants enter the bizarre world of a kitchen in the search for sugar crystals for the queen. Two greedy ants stay behind in the sugar bowl, eating their fill and then falling asleep. Their slumbers end when a giant scoop drops them into a sea of boiling brown coffee. Further mishaps include a heated stay in the toaster, a hazardous swirl in the garbage disposal and a zap in an electrical outlet. When the ant troops return, the two bad ants gladly rejoin their friends and head for the safety of home. In this work, the hazards of nonconformity are clear. The narration has the feel of early newsreels where the broadcaster described unknown phenomena in clipped, clinical language: "A strange force passed through the wet ants. They were stunned senseless and blown out of the holes like bullets from a gun." The resilient ants and the eerie landscapes are portrayed in strong black-and-white images, enriched by deep brown, purple, slate, gold and steely blue colors.

蚂蚁王国的侦查兵把他们发现的一种好吃的东西，献给了蚁后。蚁后非常喜欢这些甜甜的水晶一样的东西。于是一支蚂蚁小分队出发去把这些好东西搬回来。中间有两只馋嘴的小蚂蚁却因为贪吃落了队。他俩在人类世界的厨房中，经历了好多危险的情况，不过最后终于化险为夷，两只坏蚂蚁乖乖地回到了蚂蚁的世界中去了。作者范奥尔伯格把图画书分成两种，一种是给孩子安慰的感觉，有预见性的故事；另一种则让孩子曝露到各种事件中，直接感受激烈冲突带给心灵的震荡。本书恰好结合了两个方面：既有可以让孩子们喜欢的蚂蚁世界，又有刻意放大的人类世界的物品，视觉谜语般的阅读感受。既有让人觉得惊险的历险情景，又有让人松一口气的万事大吉的结尾。