感謝閱讀頭條號“羽佳講繪本”，本欄目旨在為寶爸寶媽推薦和分享優秀繪本，歡迎訂閱！
今天是毛毛專欄，毛毛每週將為您推薦一本優秀的英文繪本，還有朗讀音頻哦！
大家好！今天毛毛毛為大家帶來的，是一本在繪本當中屬於篇幅比較長、文字比較多的故事型繪本《Baseball Saved Us》。
之前毛毛為大家推薦的大部分繪本，都更加適合低齡寶寶閱讀，然而毛毛相信讀者當中，還是有一些大齡寶寶的家長在看相關繪本介紹的，例如毛毛的一位阿姐。
所以毛毛也特別在這裡表達一下：感謝阿姐對毛毛的支持！今天這本繪本亦是阿姐為毛毛推薦的。
它涉及到幾個話題：首先是棒球。相信4-7年級喜歡棒球的男孩女孩們，會更加理解故事中人們對棒球的感情。
其次是珍珠港事件以及那個特殊時期的美日關係。有的高年級孩子可能知道這一歷史事件，而繪本會從另一個角度，展現這一事件對普通人的影響。
再次是這本故事還涉及到了學校的霸凌。而這一現象更是在最近掀起了社會的普遍觀注，甚至引起家長們的恐慌焦慮。
或許越是開明的社會，越會去反思，那些社會上曾經出現過的不公正待遇。
本書一經出版，便受到了美國兒童教育界的巨大關注。
本書不但獲得了Lee & Low Books大獎以及1993年的Parents' Choice獎，更是在書評網站GoodReads中獲得了
4.23分的高分。網站上有四百多條書評，很大一部分來自於學校的教育工作者。
作者Ken Mochizuki是一名美籍日裔作家、記者、演員。二戰期間他的父母曾被送往集中營。而這本繪本正源於那些日子的生活記憶。
插圖作者Dom Lee 出生於韓國首爾，在美國完成了視覺藝術的碩士學位。他插畫了很多高分繪本，也是一位很有才華的美國亞裔移民。
由於這本繪本文字篇幅比較長，毛毛接下來就只為大家做圖片和中文解說。而英文文字部分會放至文末給各位家長參閱。
同時毛毛也錄製了故事音頻，感興趣的也可以直接點擊收聽。或在移動App[喜馬拉雅]或[懶人聽書]中關注“毛毛講英文繪本2018”下載收聽。
以下圖文涉及劇透，加粗字體為繪本原文，其餘為解說。圖片來自繪本實物拍攝，僅供預覽，感興趣的讀者請購買正版。
1. 故事，是從一個沙漠中的棒球場地的建設開始的。這不是一個普通的棒球場地，這是一個建立在集中營中的棒球場地，發起人，是“我”的父親。在二戰中，集中營並不少見。而這一集中營卻是建立在美國，集中的，是那些美籍日裔移民，因為珍珠港事件爆發了。
2. 在集中營裡，“我”不免回想起了來到集中營之前的日子。“我”原就因為瘦小而被學校同學排擠，而美日關係因珍珠港事件的激化，導致“我”在學校被進一步輕蔑和邊緣化。隨後不久，一家人被迫離開自己的住房，被隔離起來。
3. 集中營的日子並不好過。白天酷暑夜晚嚴寒，沙塵暴肆虐，吃飯被監視，擁擠的公共浴室，排隊放風，逼仄的營房，夜晚嬰兒的哭聲可以驚醒全營的人。
4. 在這樣的環境下，大人小孩都無所事事，於是矛盾開始激化。“我”的兄長甚至不願意為自己的父親取一杯水。所有人都在暴躁的邊緣。
5. 就是在這個時候，父親覺得有必要做點兒什麼了，一個粗陋的棒球場卻在大人小孩的協作下一點一點地建立起來了。鋤草、灌水、圍欄，建成場地後，又有朋友從家裡送來球、球棒、手套，而媽媽們則拆了床單為大家做隊服。大家幹得如火如荼。
6. “我”一開始打得並不好，可是勤於練習。崗哨的守衛始終默默注視著一切，不動聲色。 訓練告一段落，便迎來了集中營內的大人組、小孩組的各場球賽。“我”被分配到二壘，因為最簡單。每次擊球都有人起鬨出局，結果總是要麼出局，要麼偶而來個一壘打。
7. 冠軍賽第九局時，對方比分優勢3比2，“我”依然沒找到狀態，場上響著此起彼伏的加油助威聲。
8. 這時候，“我”一眼撇到了崗哨的守衛，他一直盯著看，這忽然激起了“我”狂熱的鬥志！
“我”緊抓著球棒的手試揮了兩下，毅然決然地準備奮起一棒打到天外去。這時候，場上突然安靜了，投手投球了。
9. 全力一擊，在酷熱的太陽下奮力奔跑，一壘。。。本壘。。。什麼也不管了，迷迷糊糊地，竟然被隊友扛到肩上，這時，一直沉默不語的崗哨守衛，露出會心一笑，豎起了大姆指。
10. 故事到這裡卻並沒有結束。二戰結束，人們離開了集中營回家後，異樣的眼光依然沒有消失。“我”在學校依然被孤立。
11. 然而全美都酷愛的棒球季卻照常展開了。這一次，“我”雖然依然瘦小，卻因為在集中營訓練出來的優秀技巧而得到了同伴的初步認可，他們雖然仍然直呼“我”的外號，卻眼含笑意。
可是真正的比賽依然冷酷地不近人情，而參賽的所有球員，幾乎沒有日裔。甚至觀眾席中還回響著不堪的侮辱字眼。
12. 隊伍進入比賽場，“我”在沮喪中準備擊打。到處瀰漫著起鬨聲，“我”不斷失利，而隊友們卻依然鼓勵著彼此。好吧，退步，深呼吸。
13. 站在本壘上，看著投手眼鏡上折射出的陽光，讓“我”想起了集中營崗哨守衛。一切喧鬧都靜止了，“我”進入了狀態。投手旋身、投球。
14. “我”揮棒，全力擊打，巔峰的感覺又來了，球穿過藍天、白雲，越飛越遠。。。
15. 最後，所有的隊員，為這個“小個子”發出勝利的歡呼。
故事結束，最後毛毛再附上本來作者放在故事最開始的一段Note：
二戰期間，美國政府因珍珠港事件將所有在美的美籍日裔移民遷移到沙漠集中營，只因無法判斷這些移民是否對日本效忠。
然而卻並沒有任何證據指出，這些身份尷尬的移民在二戰期間曾對美國造成危害。1988年，美國政府才終於承認這一行為是錯誤的。
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本書的篇幅確實比較長，而且跟普通只講一項運動，或一次歷史事件，或一項社會問題的繪本不同，它結合了三者。毛毛其實有很多想說的，大概可能或許會有點囉嗦。。。
首先，關於“珍珠港事件”（Pearl Harbor）：
1941年12月7日，二戰中的日本海軍突襲美國珍珠港海軍基地。這起作戰源起於美日在中國和亞洲的利益衝突，日本的大東亞共榮圈構想引發美國強烈抗議並禁止對日出口石油。此舉令日方擬定了攻擊珍珠港計劃。
在這場突襲中，日方損失微小；對美方來說，雖然主要電力和控制設備未造成傷害，美方航母也未在港內停留，但卻造成了很大的人員傷亡和戰機的損毀。
最重要的，這是一場未宣而戰的行動，從道義上完全站不住腳，引來了全美的憤怒和譴責。
正因為如此，導致了這本繪本中所描繪的，美國民眾對在美日本人的仇視。
我們無法褒貶民眾這樣一種情緒，畢竟戰爭是如此殘酷和無情。我們只談故事中所發生一切的誘因：“珍珠港事件”，歸根結底，是戰爭。
戰爭無情，在各國的利益紛爭和角逐中，真正受其苦楚的，卻是普通民眾，也同樣包括身分尷尬的來自敵對國的移民。
在這樣一種被仇視的氛圍中，是棒球這項體育運動，為故事中身份尷尬的甚至被孤立的主人公重新獲得尊嚴、價值，和自我認同。
那麼其次，我們便談談棒球（Baseball）這項運動：
毛毛曾經很喜歡一部日本動漫《棒球英豪》，尤其是遇強則強的主人公上杉達也（暴露年齡中，有木有同粉的）。
不過毛毛的棒球知識卻並沒有因為這部動畫片增長多少，大概主要還是年紀大了的緣故吧（滴汗）。
如今則因這部繪本重拾熱情並補習棒球知識（再次感謝為我提供支持的阿姐的全程解說）。如果有同樣感興趣的，或者準備為孩子參加棒球訓練的，或許可以一起了解一下。
我們先看看基本詞彙和說法，這些大家應該都非常熟悉了：
baseball棒球
baseball bat棒球棒
baseball gloves棒球手套
baseball uniform棒球隊衣
MLB(Major League Baseball)北美職業棒球聯盟
接下來看看棒球場地分區：
foul line犯規線
left field左外野
center field中外野
right field右外野
infield內野
home plate本壘
first base一壘
second base二壘
third base三壘
pitcher's mound投手位
batter's box擊球位
再看看球員站位：
pitcher投手
catcher捕手
hitter/batter擊球手
然後來看看比賽環節：
inning棒球的一局
pitch投球
wind up旋身
hit/bat擊球
swing揮棒
catch捕球
以及比賽用語：
Base Hit安打
Single一壘打（安打的一種）
Homerun本壘打
Ground Out滾地球出局
Tag Out觸殺出局
Strike Out三振出局
關於棒球就先說到這裡，咱們再說說霸凌（Bullying）：
這實在是一個沉重卻讓人憤怒的話題。
霸凌這個英文音譯可以說明，它並非剛剛形成於我們現今的社會和學校中。
無論東方無論西方，甚至無論古代無論現代，這種惡劣的行為都在黑暗中腐蝕和破壞著孩子們的成長。
而形成霸凌的原因各式各樣，或許因為家境、地位，或許因為性格、相貌、身材，或許因為國別、籍貫、文化。。。最根本的便是對弱小者的侮辱，言語上或者肢體上。
毛毛覺得當我們閱讀這本書的時候，我們應該為孩子從小樹立正確的價值觀，學會尊重他人、寬容、友好，而非狹隘和排擠。未來在於孩子，孩子的美好，帶給未來以美好。
最後的最後，附書內英文文字部分：
1. One day, my dad looked out at the endless dessert and decided then and there to build a baseball field.
He said people needed something to do in Camp. We weren't in a camp that was fun, like summer camp. Ours was in the middle of nowhere, and we were behind the barbed wire fence. Soldiers with guns made sure we stayed there, and the man in the tower saw everything we did, no matter where we were.
As dad began walking over the dry cracked dirt, I asked him again why we were here.
"Because," he said, "America is at wall with Japan, and the government thinks that Japanese Americans can't be trusted. But it's wrong that we're in here. We are Americans too!" Then he made a mark in the dirt and mumbled something about where the infield bases should be.
2. Back in school, before Camp, I was shorter and smaller than the rest of the kids. I was always the last to be picked for any team when we played games. Then, a few months ago, it got even worse. The kids started to call me names and nobody talked to me, even though I didn't do anything bad. At the same time the radio kept talking about some place far away called Pearl Harbor.
One day Mom and Dad came to get me out of school. Mom cried a lot because we had to move out of our house real fast, throwing away a lot of our stuff. A bus took us to a place where we had to live in horse stalls. We stayed there for a while until we came here.
3. This camp wasn't anything like home . It was so hot in the daytime and so cold at night. Dust storms came and got sand in everything, and nobody could see a thing. We sometimes got caught outside, standing in line to eat or to go to the bathroom. We had to use the bathroom with everybody else, instead of one at a time like at home.
we had to eat with everybody else, too, but my big brother Teddy ate with his own friends. We lived with a lot of people in what were called barracks. The place was small and had no walls. Babies cried at night and kept us up.
4. Back home, the older people were always busy working. But now, all they did was stand or sit around. Once Dad asked Teddy to get him a cup of water.
"Get it your self," Teddy said.
"What did you say?" Dad snapped back.
The older men stood up and pointed at Teddy, "How dare you talk to your father like that!" one of them shouted.
Teddy got up, kicked the crate he was sitting on, and walked away. I had never heard Teddy talk to Dad that way before.
5. That's when Dad knew we needed baseball. We got shovels and started digging up the sagebrush in a big empty space near our barracks. The man in the tower watchted us the whole time. Pretty soon, other grown-ups and their kids started to help.
We didn't have anything we needed for baseball, but the grown-ups were pretty smart. They funnelled water from irrigation ditches to flood what would become our baseball field. The water packed down the dust and made it hard. There weren't any trees, but they found wood to build the bleachers. Bats, balls and gloves arrived in cloth sacks from friends back home. My mom and other moms took the covers off mattresses and used them to make uniforms. They looked almost like the real thing.
6. I tried to play, but I wasn't that good. Dad said I just had to try harder. But I did know that playing baseball here was a little easier than back home. Most of the time, the kids were the same size as me.
All the time I practiced, the man in the tower watched. He probably saw the other kids giving me a bad time and thought that I was no good. So I tried to be better because he was looking.
Soon, there were baseball games all the time. Grown-ups played and us kids did, too. I played second base because my team said that was the easiest. Whenever I was at bat, the infield of the other team started joking around and moved in real close. The catcher behind me and the crowd for the other team would say, "Easy out." I usually grounded out. Sometimes I go to a single.
7. Then came one of our last games of the year to decide on the championship. It was the bottom of the ninth inning and the other team was winning, 3 to 2. One of our guys was on second and there were two outs.
Two pitches, and I swung both times and missed. I could tell that our guy on second was begging me to at least get a base hit so somebody better could come up to bat. The crowd was getting loud. "You can do it!" "Strike out!" "No hitter, no hitter!"
8. I glanced at the guardhouse behind the left field foul line and saw the man in the tower, learning on the rail with the blinding sun glinting off his sunglasses. He was always watching, always staring. It suddenly made me mad.
I gripped the bat harder and took a couple of practice swings. I was gonna hit the ball past the gardhouse even if it killed me. Everyone got quiet and the pitcher threw.
9. I stepped into my swing and pulled the bat around hard. I'd never heard a crack like that before. The ball went even farther than I expected.
Against the hot desert sun, I could see the ball high in the air as I ran to first base. The ball went over the head of the left fielder.
I dashed around the bases, knowing for sure that I would get tagged out. But I didn't care, running as fast as I could to home plate. I didn't even realize that I had crossed it.
Before I knew it, I was up in the air on the shoulders of my teammates. I looked up at the tower and the man, with the grin on his face, gave me the thumbs-up sign.
10. But it wasn't as if everything was fixed. Things were bad again when we got home from Camp after the war. Nobody talked to us on the street, and nobody talked to me at school, either. Most of my friends from Camp didn't come back here. I had to eat lunch by myself.
11. Then baseball season came. I was the smallest guy again, but playing baseball in Camp had made me a lot better. The other guys saw that I was a pretty good player. They started calling me "Shorty", but they smiled when they said it.
By the time the first game came around, I felt almost like part of the team. Everyone was laughing and horsing around on the bus. But as soon as we got out there, it hit me: nobody on my team or the other team, or even anybody in the crowd looked like me.
When we walked out onto the field, my hands were shaking. It felt like all these mean eyes were staring at me, wanting me to make mistakes. I dropped the ball that was thrown to me, and I heard people in the crowd yelling "Jap." I hadn't heard that word since before I went to Camp -- it meant that they hated me.
12. My team came up to bat and I was up next. I looked down. I thought maybe I should pretend to be sick so I wouldn't have to finish the game. But I knew that would make things even worse, because I would get picked on at school for being a chicken. And they would use the bad words, too.
Then it was my turn at bat. The crowd was screaming, "The Jap's no good!" "Easy out!" I heard laughing. I swung twice and missed. The crowd roared each time I missed, drowning out my teammates, who were saying, "C'mon, Shorty, you can do it!" I stepped back to catch my breath.
13. When I stepped back up to the plate, I looked at the pictcher. The sun glinted off his glasses as he stood on the mound, like the guard in the tower. We stared at each other. Then I blocked out the noise around me and got set. The pitcher wound up and threw.
14. I swung and felt that solid whack again. And I could see that little ball in the air against the blue sky and a puffy white clouds. It looked like it was going over the fence.
15. N/A
書名：Baseball Saved Us
主題：英文、棒球、政治、社會
適合年齡：8-15歲
亮點：故事性強、情感厚重
推薦指數：4顆星，推薦購買
感謝閱讀，喜歡本書的，點擊文末下方的“閱讀原文”可進入亞馬遜官網購買。
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