\n
\n
\n
\nFlo\u00adra and
\nUlysses is the new win\u00adner of the New\u00adbery Medal in 2014. Out of strong curios\u00adi\u00adty, I got a Kin\u00addle ver\u00adsion to read, which hap\u00adpened to coin\u00adcide with the theme of this study ses\u00adsion. The ear\u00adli\u00adest book to win this Amer\u00adi\u00adcan chil\u00addren\u2019s lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture award was \u201cThe Sto\u00adry of Humankind\u201d by Van Loon, and the most recent one is this one. More than 90 years have passed. How have the two changed com\u00adpared?
\n<\/p>\n
Hon\u00adest\u00adly, read\u00ading this new book real\u00adly test\u00aded my patience. After the first third, I was still com\u00adplete\u00adly bewil\u00addered. I had no idea what the author was try\u00ading to say, or what his \u201ccre\u00adative inten\u00adtion\u201d was. It\u2019s not that the text was dif\u00adfi\u00adcult (it was actu\u00adal\u00adly quite easy to read), but I just could\u00adn\u2019t fig\u00adure out where the char\u00adac\u00adters, events, and dia\u00adlogues the author had been cre\u00adat\u00ading were going. At times, it felt tru\u00adly baf\u00adfling. For\u00adtu\u00adnate\u00adly, it was dur\u00ading the Lunar New Year hol\u00adi\u00adday, so I had plen\u00adty of free time to spare. I could read it while idly enjoy\u00ading morn\u00ading tea, chat\u00adting, wait\u00ading in line, or saun\u00adter\u00ading on the water bus\u2026 I could find time to read it, and before I knew it, I was mov\u00ading for\u00adward. Over\u00adall, thanks to the com\u00adbined efforts of the author and artist, read\u00ading this \u201cnov\u00adel\u201d is tru\u00adly enjoy\u00adable, though I still felt a bit baf\u00adfled after read\u00ading the first third. I sus\u00adpect this baf\u00adfle\u00adment stems in part from cul\u00adtur\u00adal and age dif\u00adfer\u00adences. Some of the pop\u00adu\u00adlar Amer\u00adi\u00adcan ele\u00adments in the book felt a bit alien to me as a for\u00adeign\u00ader, and per\u00adhaps it\u2019s just my age that makes me feel a bit unac\u00adcus\u00adtomed to this com\u00adic-like nar\u00adra\u00adtive style. I\u2019m con\u00adfi\u00addent I know a bit about DiCamil\u00adlo. Her nov\u00adels, Winn-Dix\u00adie, won a New\u00adbery Sil\u00adver Medal, and Depero, The Roman\u00adtic Mouse, won a Gold Medal a few years ago. The nov\u00adels are pret\u00adty good, and the movies made from them are quite good. Anoth\u00ader book, The Amaz\u00ading Jour\u00adney of Edward, is also quite good. Her writ\u00ading is beau\u00adti\u00adful, her sto\u00adry\u00adtelling is high\u00adly skilled, and she\u2019s often very ten\u00adder and roman\u00adtic. If I had to find a flaw, it\u2019d be that her writ\u00ading can some\u00adtimes seem a bit too preachy, or unnat\u00adur\u00adal. But a third of the way through \u201cFlo\u00adra and Ulysses,\u201d I\u2019m tru\u00adly unsure what DiCamil\u00adlo is try\u00ading to tell. The sto\u00adry unfolds like a soap opera. The main set\u00adting is the home of ten-year-old Flo\u00adra, a com\u00adic book lover obsessed with a super\u00adhero (a rather ordi\u00adnary one in real life) who she and her father once shared. But her father is now divorced from her moth\u00ader, a writer who loves romance and hates comics. As the sto\u00adry opens, Flo\u00adra\u2019s moth\u00ader writes on an old type\u00adwriter in the kitchen while she secret\u00adly reads comics upstairs, imag\u00adin\u00ading the super\u00adhero. Then, she sees a new vac\u00adu\u00adum clean\u00ader in the neigh\u00adbor\u2019s yard, fran\u00adti\u00adcal\u00adly drag\u00adging the woman around, suck\u00ading up every\u00adthing, until it final\u00adly sucks in a squir\u00adrel\u2026 The sto\u00adry\u2019s open\u00ading is cer\u00adtain\u00adly quite bois\u00adter\u00adous, and while it\u2019s com\u00adic-book-esque, it still main\u00adtains a real\u00adis\u00adtic approach. But then, some\u00adhow, the nar\u00adra\u00adtive sud\u00adden\u00adly shifts. Flo\u00adra shouts from upstairs, her words seem\u00ading\u00adly float\u00ading in the air, trans\u00adform\u00ading into a speech bub\u00adble. Then, she rush\u00ades down\u00adstairs to res\u00adcue the squir\u00adrel, and the squir\u00adrel\u2019s con\u00adscious\u00adness becomes part of the sto\u00adry. Flo\u00adra resus\u00adci\u00adtates the squir\u00adrel with mouth-to-mouth resus\u00adci\u00adta\u00adtion, and then a mir\u00ada\u00adcle occurs: the hun\u00adgry squir\u00adrel, seek\u00ading food, lifts the bulky vac\u00adu\u00adum clean\u00ader with one hand! Flo\u00adra instant\u00adly \u201creal\u00adizes\u201d that this squir\u00adrel is her super\u00adhero, and she names it after the brand of vac\u00adu\u00adum clean\u00ader: Ulysses. Per\u00adhaps not coin\u00adci\u00adden\u00adtal\u00adly, Flo\u00adra is the Roman god\u00addess of flow\u00aders, and Ulysses is the Roman name of the Greek hero Odysseus. At this point, the sto\u00adry enters a triple log\u00adic sys\u00adtem (at least triple): (1) Real life: Flo\u00adra and her writer moth\u00ader, her father who is going to pick her up to play, the neigh\u00adbor lady and her grand\u00adnephew William, and Dr. Meescham, the neigh\u00adbor of her father\u2019s apart\u00adment \u2014 their sto\u00adries revolve around Flo\u00adra and the squir\u00adrel Ulysses; (2) The com\u00adic book world: The log\u00adi\u00adcal sys\u00adtem of the com\u00adic book world that Flo\u00adra is immersed in. She sets the posi\u00adtion of each real char\u00adac\u00adter based on her expe\u00adri\u00adence in the com\u00adic book sto\u00adry, as well as the coun\u00adter\u00admea\u00adsures when encoun\u00adter\u00ading var\u00adi\u00adous sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtions; (3) Fan\u00adta\u00adsy sto\u00adry or sur\u00adre\u00adal life: The main line is the squir\u00adrel that has under\u00adgone mag\u00adi\u00adcal changes. This Ulysses real\u00adly has some super\u00adpow\u00aders. He can fly, com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adcate with peo\u00adple, write on a type\u00adwriter and com\u00adput\u00ader key\u00adboard, and even write poet\u00adry. The sto\u00adry is advanced by the inter\u00adweav\u00ading of these three log\u00adics. The first half seems quite ran\u00addom. As the squir\u00adrel Ulysses shows his super\u00adpow\u00aders again and again, the wheels of the sto\u00adry roll very nois\u00adi\u00adly, but I don\u2019t know where it wants to go\u2026 Until Flora\u2019s moth\u00ader decides to \u201cget rid of\u201d this annoy\u00ading squir\u00adrel, the direc\u00adtion seems to become clear\u00ader (although pri\u00advate\u00adly I think it is still a bit forced). The sto\u00adry nat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adly has a hap\u00adpy end\u00ading, but I can\u2019t spoil the details. But look\u00ading back, you\u2019ll find DiCamil\u00adlo once again demon\u00adstrates her mas\u00adter\u00adful sto\u00adry\u00adtelling skills, infus\u00ading a home\u00adly tale with fan\u00adta\u00adsy and com\u00adic book ele\u00adments, ulti\u00admate\u00adly achiev\u00ading the warmth and romance she\u2019s so adept at. The illus\u00adtra\u00adtors\u2019 col\u00adlab\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtive efforts have made this sto\u00adry incred\u00adi\u00adbly light and live\u00adly to read. I\u2019m par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly note\u00adwor\u00adthy for the fact that, despite incor\u00adpo\u00adrat\u00ading numer\u00adous pop\u00adu\u00adlar ele\u00adments and giv\u00ading the book a com\u00adic-like feel, the author man\u00adages to craft a sophis\u00adti\u00adcat\u00aded approach to lan\u00adguage, seem\u00ading\u00adly inad\u00adver\u00adtent\u00adly incor\u00adpo\u00adrat\u00ading some chal\u00adleng\u00ading yet apt vocab\u00adu\u00adlary. This is espe\u00adcial\u00adly true through the involve\u00adment of William, a vol\u00adu\u00adble 11-year-old boy obsessed with sci\u00adence and phi\u00adlos\u00ado\u00adphy, and Mrs. Meescham, a some\u00adwhat mys\u00adti\u00adcal doc\u00adtor of phi\u00adlos\u00ado\u00adphy, who imbues the sto\u00adry with a wealth of sci\u00aden\u00adtif\u00adic ter\u00admi\u00adnol\u00ado\u00adgy and philo\u00adsoph\u00adi\u00adcal reflec\u00adtions. I found this to be quite engag\u00ading and a tes\u00adta\u00adment to the author\u2019s skill. The del\u00adi\u00adcate han\u00addling of lan\u00adguage, even the explo\u00adration of poet\u00adry, and the use of squir\u00adrels to fur\u00adther the sto\u00adry\u00adline, are also quite suc\u00adcess\u00adful, and I think they will be very appeal\u00ading to both pri\u00adma\u00adry and sec\u00adondary school teach\u00aders. Over\u00adall, I think these seem\u00ading\u00adly \u201cbyprod\u00aducts\u201d are even more suc\u00adcess\u00adful than the book\u2019s main plot. Based on my expe\u00adri\u00adence after just one read, I think this is a fair\u00adly suc\u00adcess\u00adful work, but it may not be a clas\u00adsic, pri\u00admar\u00adi\u00adly because it seems to lack any tru\u00adly emo\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adly touch\u00ading moments. How\u00adev\u00ader, because it suc\u00adcess\u00adful\u00adly inte\u00adgrates var\u00adi\u00adous ele\u00adments, it will undoubt\u00aded\u00adly be enjoyed by many chil\u00addren and adults (espe\u00adcial\u00adly teach\u00aders). Over\u00adall, it\u2019s a very enjoy\u00adable book. \u8fc7\u5e74\u786e\u5b9e\u5236\u9020\u4e86\u8bb8\u591a\u96f6\u788e\u7684\u65f6\u95f4\uff0c\u53ef\u4ee5\u7a7f\u63d2\u7740\u8bfb\u4e00\u70b9\u4e66\u3002\u6211\u56de\u5934\u6e05\u70b9\u4e86\u4e00\u4e0b\uff0c\u4ece\u5927\u5e74\u4e09\u5341\u5230\u521d\u56db\u671f\u95f4\uff0c\u4e5f\u8bfb\u5b8c\u4e86\u4e24\u672c\u7ebd\u4f2f\u745e\u91d1 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3249,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[104,26,348],"class_list":["post-3254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-timemachine","tag-104","tag-26","tag-348"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/001Cukiggy6Gnd6NHQz5f.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n
\nI have to praise the nov\u00adel for\u00admat of this book. The full name of the book should be: Flo\u00adra and Ulysses: The Illu\u00admi\u00adnat\u00aded
\nAdven\u00adtures (Flo\u00adra and Ulysses: Pic\u00adture Adven\u00adtures), which means that at least part of the sto\u00adry in the book is told with pic\u00adtures, so the cre\u00adator is not only the author of the text, but also the illus\u00adtra\u00adtor is a co-cre\u00adator. They are: Kate
\nKate DiCamil\u00adlo (author), KG Camp\u00adbell
\n (KG Camp\u00adbell, illus\u00adtra\u00adtor). Over\u00adall, this is still a nov\u00adel, but the sto\u00adry begins with a com\u00adic, or rather, the intro\u00adduc\u00adtion to the nov\u00adel is a com\u00adic sto\u00adry. Take a look at this pic\u00adture:
\n
\nand
\nAt first glance, you might mis\u00adtak\u00aden\u00adly think that this is a com\u00adic book, and I think young read\u00aders will cer\u00adtain\u00adly enjoy flip\u00adping through it. In addi\u00adtion, as a fair\u00adly long nov\u00adel, it nat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adly has chap\u00adters. I was shocked when I looked at the table of con\u00adtents: there are 68 chap\u00adters plus an intro\u00adduc\u00adtion and an epi\u00adlogue! \u2014 How long will it take to fin\u00adish read\u00ading this (the Water Mar\u00adgin anno\u00adtat\u00aded by Jin Sheng\u00adtan also has 70 chap\u00adters). But when you real\u00adly open the book and take a look, you will find that you have been \u201ctricked\u201d. Each chap\u00adter is piti\u00adful\u00adly short, only 5 or 6 pages long, and only 1 or 2 pages short. It is indeed very easy to read a chap\u00adter (it seems very ful\u00adfill\u00ading). Some chap\u00adters are even more exag\u00adger\u00adat\u00aded, but they are just 2\u20134 pages of comics, which seem to be a light and pleas\u00adant way to pass the \u201chard\u201d read\u00ading. For exam\u00adple, Chap\u00adter 40 is as fol\u00adlows:<\/p>\nand
\nand
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n
\nand
\nAjia \u2026
\nBei\u00adjing, Feb\u00adru\u00adary 2014<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"