我想學寫故事有一陣子了，上星期放棄上蕨類課程的機會，卻非常幸運地從郭城孟老師的臉書連到中華民國兒童文學協會，偶然發現三月有讀書會的行程，我當然不能放棄這天上掉下來的好運氣。
I'd wanted to learn about story-writing for a while. Last week I gave up the fantastic opportunity of taking a course in ferns in NTU, but God didn't give me up. I accidentally found the Facebook webpage of The Association of Children Literature, ROC via the page of the herbarium's director. What's better, new study club sessions are scheduled to begin in March. How can I ignore such a heavenly chance?
第一週的主講人是楊茂秀教授，他是很棒的兒童教育學家，一開場便說了好幾個故事，老師說故事的功力讓人完全不懷疑故事的真假，而且老師靈活運用聲音和肢體語言，把每個角色扮演得栩栩如生，加上他天生的幽默感，每個故事其實都像演出來的繪本。
The lecturer of the first week is Prof. Mau-hsiu Yang. He's an excellent children educator. He starts the "new semester" with several stories. Dr. Yang is such a wonderful storyteller that I don't question if the plots are true at all. Besides, he exerts his voice and body language to such a degree, along with his natural sense of humor, that every story he tells is a picture book that comes alive.
其實每一個故事的哲學都很簡單，去掉大人社會化的認知，回到兒童最單純的想法，這就是繪本的精神，而神奇的是，對我來說，回到最初有重新學習的強烈力道。
In fact, the philosophy in every story is simple. The spirit of picture books is to discard what socialization has imposed on every child and to highlight children's innocence. Amazingly, though I once had that in me, I feel the power of re-learning what I have forgotten or left behind.
楊教授也提出有趣的名詞，如故事生態學，也就是說故事沒有必要一定要如此，結局可以順著自然的方向發展，原來故事書也要像圓融的人生觀一樣自在；還有，東西是有生命的，人和他們是平等的，果然很多繪本都因為賦予東西生命，於是觀點就變得好玩了。
Prof. Yang also comes up some interesting ideas. For example, there is not a "must-be" ending to a story. Instead, the story can go with the flow. So I've learned that stories and real life are the same--we should allow for many possibilities. Also, the term "ecomocracy" advocates that things have life and that people and things are equal. True, many picture books are fun to read because the objects have their unique points of view as well.
聽著老師說著說著，等我下午去植標館時，居然有個錯覺，覺得我可以替植標館的生活寫部少年小說了。
As I listen to Prof. Yang, a really wild idea crosses my mind when I go to the herbarium in the afternoon. I suddenly believe that I am capable of writing a teenage novel for the life in the herbarium!
讀書會的現場清一色是女性，從一個人來的女生，到帶著孩子來的媽媽，還有阿嬤，不知道喜歡繪本的男人都去哪了。我身邊坐了個認真的媽媽，抱著一歲的小嬰兒，他的視線放在我身上好長一會兒，即使我沒有小孩，也覺得自己融入在現場和樂的氛圍裡。最後有些孩子們都跑走了，大人們卻聽演講聽得目不轉睛，看來大人比小朋友還需要繪本啊！
It's funny to see only women in the study club, from single women to married women with children to grandmas. I wonder where the picture-book loving men are. A really committed mom with a one-year-old infant mom sits next to me, while the baby can't take his eyes off me for a long while. Now, despite the fact that I am childless, I don't feel so anymore. In the end, some children have started their own "play club" whereas the adults are the ones that stay to listen to Prof. Yang. It seems adults need picture books more than children!
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