今天带来的绘本叫做《Are you my mother》你是我的妈妈吗？

这本绘本创作于1960年，畅销50余年，被列入美国图书馆推荐孩子必读的100本童书中。

故事有点像《小蝌蚪找妈妈》的英文版。mother bird 为了给baby bird 寻找食物，离开了鸟巢。所以当baby bird 出生时没有看到mother bird 很是着急，于是它决定，自己去寻找妈妈，在找妈妈的路上，它遇到了小猫、小鸡、小狗和老牛……

这本绘本多次再版，之所以经典，是因为故事看似简单，却揭示了很深刻的道理。鸟宝宝起初并不知道妈妈长什么样，在找妈妈的过程中，它碰到了许多不同的动物和事物，几经挫折，最后，当她看到鸟妈妈的时候，她知道这就我的妈妈，因为每个妈妈是和自己的宝宝长的一样的。这简单的过程，其实，这就是孩子对世界的认知方式。

A mother bird sat on her egg.

鸟妈妈坐在她的蛋上。

The egg jumped.

鸟蛋跳起来了。

 "Oh oh!" said the mother bird. " My baby will be here! He will want to eat!"

 “哦哦！”鸟妈妈说。“我的宝贝快出来啦！他可能想吃东西！”
 

"I must get something for my baby bird to eat!" she said. " I will be back!"

 “我必须找点东西给我的宝宝吃！”她说。“我马上回来！”

 So away she went.

 然后她离开了。
 

The egg jumped. It jumped, and jumped, and jumped!

 鸟蛋跳着。跳呀，跳呀，跳呀！

 Out came the baby bird!

 鸟宝宝出生啦！

"Where is my mother?"

 “我的妈妈在哪里呀？”

 He looked for her.

 他在找他的妈妈。

He looked up. He did not see her.

 他向上看。他没看到妈妈。

He looked down. He did not see her.

 他向下看。他也没看到妈妈。

  "I will go and look for her," he said.

“我要出去找她。”他说。

 So away he went.

 所以他离开了巢。

Down, out of the tree he went.

他从树上掉下来了。

Down, down, down! It was a long way down.

掉啊，掉啊，掉啊！他一直往下掉。

The baby bird could not fly.

 原来鸟宝宝不会飞。

 He could not fly, but he could walk. " Now I will go and find my mother," he said.

 虽然他不会飞，但是他可以走路。“现在我走着找我妈妈。”他说。

He did not know what his mother looked like. He went right by her. He did not see her.

他不知道妈妈的样子。他跟妈妈擦身而过。他却没有看到妈妈。

He came to a kitten. "Are you my mother?" he said to the kitten.

他向一只小猫走去。“你是我的妈妈吗？”他对小猫说。

 The kitten just looked and looked. It did not say a thing.

 小猫只看了看他。什么也没说。

The kitten was not his mother, so he went on.

 小猫不是他的妈妈，所以他继续走。

 Then he came to a hen. "Are you my mother?" he said to the hen.

 然后他向一只母鸡走去。“你是我的妈妈吗？”他对母鸡说。

“No.”said the hen.

“我不是。”母鸡说。

The kitten was not his mother. The hen was not his mother. So the baby bird went on.

小猫不是他的妈妈。母鸡不是他的妈妈。所以，鸟宝宝继续走。

 "I have to find my mother!' he said. " But where? Where is she? Where could she be?"

 “我必须要找到我的妈妈！”他说。“但是在哪里呢？她在哪里？她会在哪里呢？
 

Then he came to a dog. "Are you my mother?" he said to the dog.

 接着，他走到一只狗那里。“你是我的妈妈吗？”他向狗说。

 "I am not your mother. I am a dog," said the dog.

 “我不是你妈妈。我是一只狗。”狗说。
 

The kitten was not his mother. The hen was not his mother. The dog was not his mother.

 小猫不是他的妈妈。母鸡不是他的妈妈。狗不是他的妈妈。

 So the baby bird went on. Now he came to a cow.

 所以鸟宝宝继续向前。现在，他走到了一头牛身边。
 

"Are you my mother?" he said to the cow.

 “你是我的妈妈吗？”他对牛说。

 "How could I be your mother?"said the cow. " I am a cow."

 “我怎么可能是你的妈妈？”牛说。“我是一头牛。” 
 

The kitten and the hen were not his mother. The dog and the cow were not his mother.

小猫和母鸡不是他的妈妈。狗和牛不是他的妈妈。

Did he have a mother?

他真的有妈妈吗？
 

"I did have a mother,said the baby bird. " "I know I did. I have to find her. I will. I WILL!"

 “我真的有妈妈的，”鸟宝宝说。“我知道我有。我一定要找到她。我会。我一定会！”
 

Now the baby bird did not walk. He ran! Then he saw a car. Could that old thing be his mother? No, it could not.

现在，鸟宝宝不走路了。他跑步！然后他看到了一辆小车。那辆旧东西会是他妈妈吗？不，它不会是。

The baby bird did not stop. He ran on and on.

鸟宝宝没有停下来。他跑啊跑。
 

Now he looked way, way down. He saw a boat. "There she is!" said the baby bird.

现在，他向着很低、很低的地方看。他看到一艘船。“妈妈就在那里！”鸟宝宝说。

He called to the boat, but the boat did not stop. The boat went on.

他向着船叫，但是船没有停下来。船继续走。
 

He looked way, way up. He saw a big plane. " Here I am, Mother," he called out.

他向很高、很高的地方看。他看到一部大飞机。“我在这里，妈妈，”他大叫.

But the plane did not stop. The plane went on.

但是飞机没有停下来。飞机继续飞。
 

Just then, the baby bird saw a big thing. This must be his mother! " There she is!" he said. "There is my mother!"

就在那时，鸟宝宝看到一个大东西。这一定是他的妈妈！“她在那里！”他说。“我妈妈在那里！”
 

He ran right up to it. "Mother, Mother! Here I am, Mother!" he said to the big thing.

 他跑到它那里。“妈妈，妈妈！我在这里，妈妈！”他对大东西说。
 

But the big thing just said, "Snort.'" "Oh, you are not my mother," said the baby bird. " You are a Snort. I have to get out of here!"

但是大东西只说，“哼。”“噢，你不是我妈妈，”鸟宝宝说。“你是哼。我要离开这里！” 
 

But the baby bird could not get away. The Snort went up. It went way, way up. And up, up, up went the baby bird.

但是鸟宝宝走不了。发出哼声的机器抬了起来。抬得很高、很高。鸟宝宝也被抬得很高。 
 

But now, where was the Snort going? " Oh, oh, oh! What is this Snort going to do with me? Get me out of here!"

但是现在，哼要去哪里？哦！哦哦！！这台哼要对我做什么？快放我走！”
 

Just then, the Snort came to a stop.

就在那时，哼停了下来。
 

"Where am I?"said the baby bird. " I want to go home! I want my mother!"

 “我在哪里？”鸟宝宝说。“我想回家！我想妈妈！”
 

Then something happened. The Snort put the baby bird right back in the tree. The baby bird was home!

然后事情就这样发生了。哼把鸟宝宝放回树上去。鸟宝宝回到家了！
 

Just then the mother bird came back to the tree. " Do you know who I am?" she said to her baby.

就在那时，鸟妈妈回到树上。“你知道我是谁吗？”她对宝宝说。
 

"Yes, I know who you are,"said the baby bird. " You are not a kitten. You are not a hen. You are not a dog. You are not a cow. You are not a boat, or a plane, or a Snort! You are a bird, and you are my mother."

 “是的，我知道你是谁，”鸟宝宝说。“你不是小猫。你不是母鸡。你不是狗。你不是牛。你不是船或者飞机也不是哼！你是一只鸟，你也是我的妈妈。”