Carrot seeds

Author: Lois Lowry
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-07-01
Features: This is a series of extracurricular reading books recommended by the National Endowment for the Humanities in the United States for children from preschool to twelfth grade, totaling 300 titles. The National Endowment for the Humanities was established in 1965 and is the largest sponsor of humanities programs in the United States. All members of the foundation are senior scholars, nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. In September 2002, President Bush announced that the foundation had launched a new reading initiative called "Our People's Library," and Congress allocated $100 million over three years for this project. In this catalog of 300 books, most are world classics or children's classics, with about half being outstanding works from contemporary Europe and America, many of which are award-winning. These excellent books are equally suitable for Chinese children and adolescents to read. The books are divided into four age groups. The first age group is from preschool to third grade, the second is from fourth to sixth grade, the third is from seventh to eighth grade (equivalent to junior high school in China), and the fourth is from ninth to twelfth grade (equivalent to senior high school in China). After repeated deliberation, we have selected a premium catalog of 35 books, with the following characteristics:
1. More than half of the books are outstanding foreign literary works from the 20th and 21st centuries, and many of them have been introduced to China for the first time. They not only expand upon our previously published "New Curriculum Standard Required Reading" series, addressing the lack of contemporary literary works in the "New Curriculum Standard," but also open a new window for young Chinese readers.
2. In response to the common perception that children's books in China are too "advanced" (see the February 4, 2004, issue of China Reading News, page 2), we have carefully selected a collection of top-tier classic children's literature for children aged 2 to 8.
3. The genres are diverse: including novels, poetry, essays, drama, picture books, fairy tales, and biographies of famous figures. Among the novels are science fiction, animal novels, fantasy novels, treasure-hunting novels, detective novels, horror novels, as well as realistic and romantic novels reflecting contemporary life.
4. A common feature of the 35 selected books is their strong readability, appropriate length, and beautiful illustrations, making them truly "illustrated and engaging."
A little boy planted a carrot seed. His mother said, "This seed probably won't sprout." His father said, "It probably won't sprout." His older brother said, "It won't sprout." Every day, the little boy pulled the weeds around the seed and watered it. But nothing grew. Still nothing grew. Everyone kept saying, "This seed won't sprout." But every day, the little boy still pulled the weeds around the seed and watered it. Finally, one day, a carrot grew, just as the little boy had known it would.