Bilingual Classic Stories from the Bibliotheca Zi-Ka-Wei Series

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Publiation:Shanghai Science and Technology Literature Publishing House

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Preface Ancient Past and Distant Future

For today’s children, the Arabian Nights is far away, the medieval knights are far away, Shakespeare is far away, and James Baldwin is far away. At the turn of the 20th century, Raphael Tuck & Sons was based in London and well-known for publishing children's gift books. It published a selection of legends originated in the Great Britain, Italy, Russia, India, Japan and other countries, in addition to such literary classics as Alice in Wonderland, Aesop's Fables, Arabian Nights, as well as rewritten classics, including Bible Tales, Stories in Tennyson’s Poetry, Stories in Longfellow’s Poetry, Stories from Dickens, Robinson Crusoe and others, creating the Rafael Children's Gifts Library, a gift book series that was popular all over the world. James Baldwin wrote Fifty Famous Stories Retold and Thirty More Famous Stories Retold based on the history stories, anecdotes and folktales well-known in the West, and they are masterpieces passed down through a few generations and shared by children of the world. In the 1920s, in the form of English textbooks, these two books by James Baldwin had a great influence on a large number of Chinese readers with the double values of “reader” and “textbook”.  Unfortunately, the Rafael Children's Gifts Library series was never translated into Chinese, Fifty Famous Stories Retold and Thirty More Famous Stories Retold were gradually forgotten by Chinese readers. In the long course of years, they were kept in the Bibliotheca Zi-Ka-Wei in Shanghai, together with 560,000 foreign language books published before 1949, silent as the time itself. They are rare books and the essence of accumulated culture with timeless fragrance, still shining primal and eternal light, and still able to nurture new knowledge. With Bilingual Classic Stories from the Bibliotheca Zi-Ka-Wei as a general title for the series, the Shanghai Scientific and Technological Literature Publishing House has edited and translated 22 classic editions from the end of the 19th and the early 20th century, and published the series in the bilingual form of Chinese and English. The sleeping Rafael Children's Gifts Library and James Baldwin are re-awakened, and are walking into the children’s reading life today. They have gone through time and space, thus are timeless and acquiring an eternal significance. Classics are proven masterpieces over countless readings, and are the "shoulders" of literature, arts and ideas. The twenty-two books in this series not only contain classic stories and exquisite illustrations, but also hold cultural ideas and values. The literary narrative, fairy tale imagination, and philosophical thinking have given these books a grand and free spiritual world. They are suitable for children in primary and junior high schools and can help them discover the enjoyment of growing up and search for the meaning of life. The beauty of classics is timeless. When gently wiping away the dust of years, we can find increasingly bright light in these classical works. When children walk into the classic stories and share the emotions of the stories, the classics will become their memories and breathing. Great classics are our common memories and happy gardens. Historical narratives are always the outline of the future. This series offers a new reading perspective and will enhance our feelings for the classic children's literature. When enjoying the pleasure of reading and the rich content of these books, we can find the editors and translators have fulfilled their duties with hardworking, and realize the ancient past is still shining on the distant future.                                                                                 Xu Rong, Children's Reading Promoter                                                                                                         October 2013

There are altogether 22 titles in the Bilingual Classic Stories from the Bibliotheca Zi-Ka-Wei Series, and each title has hardcover and paperback editions. This series will be available in early December. It will become one of the brands of this publishing house. More new titles will follow up. 1． Fifty Famous Stories Retold 2． Thirty More Famous Stories Retold 3． Japanese Fairy Tales and Legends 4． Indian Legends 5． Stories from Longfellow 6． Russian Fairy Tales and Legends 7． Stories from Shakespeare 8． Stories from Scott 9． Old British Legends 10． Stories from Dickens 11． Stories from the Arabian Nights 12． Stories from Tennyson 13． Stories from the Bible 14． Romanian Legends 15． Italian Fairy Tales and Legends 16． Aesop’s Fables 17． Alice's Adventures in Wonderland 18． Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There 19． Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales 20． Grimm's Fairy Tales 21． Robinson Crusoe 22． Pinocchio