Wanda's art class 5 / 汪達的美術課 5

和男孩們讀了好幾次「開貨車的男人」，很想試試看這本書的形式，剛好週末要和吳妞妞小妹見面，我決定來個外帶的美術課。

After having read Munari's l'uomo del camion, I was really tempted to try the format of this book. I knew I would meet up a pretty little girl on the weekend, so I decided to have a takeout art class. 

同時我也想來個實驗，假如一個小朋友對繪本和畫畫有興趣，那麼關於個性上的問題是否可以透過繪本改善呢？我因此特地為妞妞做了個人專屬繪本。

Meanwhile I'd love to make an experiment. If a child is interested in picture books and drawing, then can we try to modify his or her behavior through picture books? I thus made a personalized picture book for Nio. 

越做越開心，便為繪本做了封套。

I got so carried away that I made a book bag for the book. 

The Listening Princess 

story and illustration by Weichuen You 

Nio is different from other princesses in that she doesn't chatter on and on. 

Nio knows that she has to be quiet and listen really hard to hear many things. 

For example. She can hear Dad's lack of self-confidence, much as he wants to take good care of everyone. 

She can hear Mom's fatigue from work. Sometimes she just wants a hug, but she doesn't say it. 

She can hear her little brother's love for her, despite the fact that he can only grin at her because he hasn't learned to talk yet. 

Having heard these secrets that are not revealed to any other person, Nio decides to give everyone a gift. 

When Dad picks her up from school, Nio holds his hand saying, "Daddy, I worked hard at school today. You have to do your best too ok?" 

Nio waits with the moon for Mom. She wants to welcome her home with a BIG hug! 

Before going to bed, Nio kisses her little brother, whispering in his ear: I love you too. Let's play together in our dreams as well!" 

Dear Nio, now be quiet for ten minutes. What do you hear from your mom, dad and brother? Draw it in the blank space on the right-side page. 

朋友們本來看到快要流眼淚，看到最後一頁的習題紛紛爆笑，他們說：為什麼老師本色又冒出來了？

My friends were almost moved to tears, but upon reading the exercise on the last page, they couldn't help bursting into crazy laughter. They asked, "Why can't you stop being a teacher?" 

終於我又可以畫圖畫得理直氣壯，所以睡了一晚起來又加了新想法。

Finally I feel free in drawing again. After a night's sleep, a new idea occurred to me, and I couldn't help further developing it. 

我替妞妞準備多餘的紙，讓她可以把無聲不能說話的物品貼起來，因為我覺得有很多美好的事物如太陽月亮星星山脈花朵等等都是安靜的，希望妞妞可以懂這個練習的重點。

I prepared extra paper for Nio so that she could do collage with shapes that stand for things/objects that don't make any sound. A lot of beautiful things, such as the sun, the moon, stars, mountains, flowers, are silent. I hope Nio gets the point of this exercise. 

這是第一次妞妞和我們吃飯的時候如此安靜專注，真好，我和愛雪說，這本書的代價是過去一年的總和，換算成金錢是一百二十萬台幣，但是我好久沒有因為畫圖這麼開心。

This was the first time that Nio remained so engaged and quiet when we ate. So nice. I told Mom that the price for this picture book, translated into monetary value, is 1.2 million NTD, the amount of money  I spent during the past year. But I have not been so happy because of drawing for a while, not even in London. 

朝下一課邁進！

Time for next lesson!