書本介紹 – Dogs Don’t Tell Jokes

你認為自己是個搞笑能手嗎？是裝傻還是吐槽呢？

但是在學校裡搞笑真的沒問題嗎？

雖然作者Louis Sachar的成名作是Holes系列，但這次我想講的是Dogs Don’t Tell Jokes這本書

主角Gary Boone是學校的搞笑好手（自稱），但是他無論任何時候都在說笑話，不但一堆冷場還令他在班上一點也不受歡迎。後來學校舉辦了一個才能表現，Gary自然打算以單人脫口秀參加，但是因為對自己沒有信心所以對參不參加左搖右擺，也有打算為了改變自己在班上的地位放棄搞笑。到底Gary應不應該為了融入班裡面而放棄自己的真性情？他又能不能順利完成脫口秀呢？

雖然不是所有小朋友都像Gary那麼愛開玩笑，但是不論是害怕在台上說話還是擔心變成班上不受歡迎的怪人，Gary要面對的這些問題很多小朋友都會有所共鳴。何況作者筆下的人物跟劇情都有真實感，就是小孩子日常生活真的會遇到的人和事，所以要代入主角的生活也不會很困難。

但曷我也欣賞作者如何描寫Gary這個角色。很多這類故事都會設法把主角寫為很有才能只是沒有人了解他的大好人角色，可是在故事中我們確實看到Gary的玩笑如何影響到身邊的人，他也會在故事中了解到如何照顧別人心情跟看氣氛說話。雖然到最後Gary能夠繼續說笑話，但也不代表他不會從經歷中得到成長。

喜歡看一些歡樂校園小品嗎？這本書就合適不過了！
至於狗狗是不是不會開玩笑？那就問問你家汪星人吧（？

Do you see yourself as a jokester? Are you the guy who plays dumb, or the guy who snarks about it?

But is it alright to be a jokester at school?

Evem though the author, Louis Sachar, is probably the most famous for his “Holes" series, this time I’m going to talk about a different book also from him: Dogs Don’t Tell Jokes.

Our protagonist Gary Boone is the (self-proclaimed) jokester at school who loved to tell jokes all the time. Despite his efforts however, all that landed him was an unamused audience, and a considerable lack of friends.
One time, the school was about to host a talent contest, and Gary thought of entering as a stand-up comedian. Unfortunately, he had a hard time deciding whether to go ahead and enter, as he was uncertain about his abilities. Things certainly didn’t help when Gary started thinking that perhaps the best way to be popular at school is to stop joking around altogether.
Should Gary give up his true nature to fit in with his classmates? Would he succeed in his stand-up comedy debut?

Even though not all kids are going to be as much as a jokester as Gary, the problems he face, from stage fright to worrying about being the resident unpopular oddball, are problems that a lot of children would resonate with. This is helped by how realistic the characters and story are written, so chances are kids would be able to identify with Gary, as his experiences echo with their everyday life.

However, I also admired how the author characterizes Gary. It’s easy to paint protagonists in children’s book as misunderstood characters without their own failings, but in this book we indeed get to see how Gary’s non-stop joking affects those around him, good or bad. Throughout the story, Gary also started to understand how to read the atmosphere and to think before speaking. Although Gary managed to stay true to himself and continue his comedy routines, at the same time he still gained some character development.

If you want to read something hilarious and light-hearted in a school setting, then this book is for you.
As for whether dogs indeed don’t tell jokes? Don’t ask me, ask your pup!

Actually they don’t, they had a ruff life.

Alright never mind, that was a lame pun. My bad.

英文豆知識 – Break a leg

在戲劇組裡面，將要出場的演員經常會互相說Break a leg的
可能大家會覺得，這不對吧！怎麼會在這時候互相咀咒說希望人家跌斷腿的？

原來當年的戲劇組以迷信見稱，有不少戲劇組習俗都是由這些迷信開始的。對他們來講，出場前祝對方演出順利反而是不吉利的事情喔。
那麼要怎樣做才是吉利呢？自然就是說反話啦！說吉利的話會變得不吉利，說不吉利的話會變吉利好像也是摸基隆的事情（嗯？

經過這麼多年，Break a leg這個說法也變成了戲劇組的傳統呢～其實還有其他的有趣傳統的，大家可以找找看喔

然後漫畫中的最後一句對白又是什麼一回事？Pulling someone’s leg其實是指說話騙他們的意思，Are you pulling my leg？就是問別人是不是在開玩笑／胡說八道
另外也可以用Are you kidding me？表達同樣意思呢
“You’re pulling my leg, right" 就是＂你騙我的對吧＂這個意思，就只是語氣上的分別，嗯

Inside a theatre troupe, people often tell each other to “Break a leg" before they step out on stage. Perhaps you would wonder, that can’t be right? Why would they curse each other to fall and break their legs?

Turns out back in the day, theatre groups were well-known for being superstitious, and that often spawned all sorts of rituals. To these people, it was in fact unlucky to wish each other a good performance.
So what should they say for luck then? Why, the opposite, of course! If saying something lucky turns out to be unlucky, then obviously saying something unlucky will make it lucky right? (wait what)

As the years go by, the habit of telling each other to break a leg becomes one of the traditions of theatre. If you want to, there’s more interesting theatre traditions for you to discover!

On a side note, “pulling someone’s leg" means to lie to somebody. So to ask someone “Are you pulling my leg" means “Are you trying to fool me?"
Another way to ask the same thing would be “Are you kidding me?"

書本介紹 – Give Yourself Goosebumps

好啦，之前說好的萬聖節應景文來了！

說到寫給小朋友看的恐怖故事，Goosebumps系列可以說是最經典最有名的，作者R.L.Stine至從在９０年代初開始創作Goosebumps系列，就為不少小朋友打開了恐怖故事的大門，還是出版社Scholastic最有名氣的童書系列之一呢

不過我要介紹的不是Goosebumps的本篇系列，而且當中的Give Yourself Goosebumps系列！

這些書的內容就是恐怖故事常見的題材：吸血鬼，殭屍，人狼，鬼魂，外星人，人偶….總之你想到的它都有啦。但是這系列跟其他故事的分別就是，主角不是什麼普通人。

因為主角就是讀者，也就是你啊！

在這些書中，你會化身成為主角，故事的情節也會因為你在看書時作出的選擇而有所改變。你能不能夠在故事中化險為夷，還是不幸拿到領便當的下場？那就看你的選擇了！

雖然有些故事的走向比較看運氣多於自己的選擇，但是這些書本成功集恐怖，緊張跟搞笑於一身，能夠決定自己在故事中的命運也是這系列最大的吸引力。可惜有些故事的場景比較像美國小孩的成長環境（怎麼作者特別喜歡用夏令營的…），我們的小孩可能會比較難投入一點，不過其他故事的代入感也是挺強的喔

想在萬聖節的時候嚇嚇自己嗎？來看Give Yourself Goosebumps，給自己雞皮疙瘩吧！

Alright, about time I finish that Halloween book intro I promised earlier!

When it comes to horror stories for kids, the Goosebump series is probably the most classic and popular of them all. Ever since the author, R.L.Stine started writing these books, the Goosebumps series opened the door of the horror genre to generations of kids worldwide. In fact, to its publisher Scholastic, Goosebumps has been one of its most bestselling children’s book series of all time.

But I’m not going to talk about the main series though, this time I’m talking about one of its sub-series, Give Yourself Goosebumps!

The stories within this series is pretty straightforward, vampires, zombies, werewolves, ghosts, aliens, mannequins…basically all the common horror elements are there. But there’s one thing that sets those books apart from your usual horror stories: The protagonist isn’t just anybody.

The protagonist is you!

That’s right, the moment you open the book you are now part of the story, and how the story unfolds depends on the decisions you make as you read. Will you make it safe and sound? Or will you meet an unfortunate end? It’s all up to you now!

Even though some of the stories may depend more on luck than your decisions, those books manage to be scary, gripping and hilarious at the same time, and the fact that you get to affect how the story goes is one of the biggest draws of the series. Unfortunately some of the story settings are probably more familiar to American kids (I still don’t get why the author keeps writing stories set in summer camps…) so other kids may have trouble imagining themselves inside the stories, but the rest shouldn’t have this problem.

Want to read some scary stories during Halloween? Check out this series and give yourself goosebumps!

書本介紹 – Stellaluna

因為快要萬聖節了，來介紹一本跟蝙蝠有關的書吧！（什麼理由）
這本書就是Stellaluna，以童書來說也是經典之一呢

主角Stellaluna是一隻小果蝠，至幼跟她的媽媽相依為命。但是有一天她們被一隻貓頭鷹襲擊，小Stellaluna被迫跟媽媽分開，誤打誤撞被跌進一個鳥巢裡面。雖然鳥媽媽願意接納Stellaluna當家庭一分子，但是Stellaluna得入鄉隨俗像鳥一樣生活。
Stellaluna能不能夠跟媽媽重遇？鳥跟蝙蝠的生活她又能不能夠適應呢？

好吧其實也不能說是應景萬聖節，因為這本書一點也不恐怖反而很可愛溫馨。不論是Stellaluna跟媽媽的親情，還是她跟幼鳥們的友情都是甜甜的～看到小蝙蝠在黑夜中努力找媽媽，大家也會很想為她加油集氣吧！

順帶一提這本書是給比較小的孩子看，所以英文要求不會很高（至少跟之前介紹的相比），不用太擔心孩子看不看得懂喔

至於真正應景的書嘛～明天萬聖節才說吧（笑

Since it’s almost Halloween, let’s talk about a book related to bats! (Wait what kind of excuse is this)
This book is called Stellaluna, and it’s a pretty classic children’s book I daresay,

Our protagonist Stellaluna is a baby fruitbat who lived with her loving mother, but one day an owl attacked the two and Stellaluna was forced to separate from her mother. She ended up falling into a bird’s nest, where she befriended the baby birds in it. Although the birds’ mother treated Stellaluna as family, the baby bat was asked to learn from them and behave more like a bird.

Will Stellaluna reunite with her mother? Will she be able to learn how to live like a bat and a bird?

Alright I suppose this isn’t all that Halloween-related, since this book is less scary and more heartwarming. From Stellaluna’s bond with her mother to the friendship between her and the baby birds, all those are adorable interactions. When you read about the baby bat’s journey through the night in search for her mother, you can’t help but want to cheer her along the way!

Oh by the way, since this book is meant for younger children, the English level won’t be too high (at least compared to the books I’ve talked about before) so don’t worry about whether your kids will understand the words or not.

As for a book that’s actually Halloween-related? We’ll leave that for tomorrow!