"When Playing on Black Coal Mountain": Don't think they are really "playing"

2019-04-08 Monday Sunny

Don’t think they are really “playing” - Thoughts after reading “When Playing on Black Coal Mountain”

< p> When I got this picture book in the library, I fell in love with it just by looking at the cover. The characters in the painting are students, and the brushstrokes are relatively immature. The painting is black and white with simple lines, and I instantly became attracted to it. There must be a "story" in it, and it is an extraordinary story.

When I opened it, I fell into the situation of only reading the text without looking at the pictures. Wow, it was all over in one go. To be honest, when I saw the end, I fell deeply into an inexplicable sadness. My heart was so heavy that I couldn't recover for a long time. I also think of the big fire in Liangshan, Sichuan that just passed and the people who lost contact. This was also a disaster. What kind of trauma did the 30 families left behind?

Does picture books only bring me pain? What is the author telling us? Just a simple accident? A piece of childhood life? With this question in mind, I started reading again, carefully observing the pictures and savoring the story.

The beginning of the story tells about my daily life in the coal country. There are grandpa, dad, sister, brother and me in the warm family. (Where’s mom? She didn’t appear until the end of the story?) The whole family moved coal together and made coal cakes together. Playing in the big puddle with friends.

After school, I saw someone picking up coal in the gangue (here is a plot that I missed when I first watched it). After entering the third grade, I became roommates with a classmate named Guizi. (I saw Guizi among the classmates picking up broken coal on the coal mountain after school.) This was a foreshadowing.

We became good friends after Guizi borrowed a ruler from me. After school, we climbed Meishan together. Guizi is very experienced. She pulled me to the top of the mountain, where we saw a different scenery. "A gust of wind blew up our skirts. We hurriedly held them down, looked at each other, and laughed. We couldn't stop even if we wanted to." What a happy picture and warm friendship.

Immediately afterwards, the situation of Guizi's family was described. She lived next to the "Black Ni River", and I went to Guizi's house to play. That day, Guizi's father came back from the night shift in the mine and slept soundly. We went to the Heini River to play on the cement piers together. With Guizi's encouragement, I bravely defeated myself and jumped out.

One day when I was in arithmetic class, suddenly there was a harsh noise rumbling outside the window. The mine alarm rang, the school janitor ran over, and the teacher called several classmates, including Guizi, away.

From that day on, the accident was reported on television and in newspapers. Guizi also never came to school. I went to her house to look for her, but couldn't find her. In the summer, I received a letter from Guizi. She returned the pink ruler she borrowed from me when she left. She also shared her happiness with her new classmates.

The story ends here. What is very eye-catching is that there is a note at the end of the book that reads: "Eriko, you have to remember, you must not forget it! On June 1, 1965, a gas explosion occurred in the Yamano Coal Mine, killing 237 miners. They left behind 237 wives without husbands and 237 children without fathers. Eriko, you have to remember this! "

The author is based on his childhood. Complete with perspective and tone. I have to say that such calm words convey great pain. Look at the picture, look at the details, and think about the author's last note. In the author's life, she carried so much power that she restored all this and presented it to us. A person who was not a child experienced such a memory again according to the feeling of childhood. In other words, such a memory has been echoing in her mind all the time.

Some details in the pictures also contain a lot of information. What kind of child is Guizi? How is her family? What will her future life be like? The author presented everything in the painting.

The author does not face the cruelty and pain directly, but the words and pictures are painful.

What is suffering? So what about embarrassment? When you meet brave, optimistic, and progressive people, everything can be put aside.

What should you do if you encounter setbacks in life? The author didn't say it, but it was revealed between the lines and in the pictures.

The interactions between them are all completed in play, and the display of these details is exactly worth pondering. Are they really playing?

When I saw Guizi, I remembered that she was among the classmates picking up broken coal on the way home. There is no direct explanation of the difficulties and embarrassment of Guizi's family. The author tells you Guizi's family situation silently.

While climbing Coal Mountain, the children had fun, and at the same time, we clearly saw friendship and the differences between children from different families.

When facing difficulties while walking on the cement pier, my fear and Guizi's encouragement formed a clear contrast. They finally jumped for joy on the cement pier, allowing us outside the book to feel their emotions after their victory.

That’s what a truly good picture book is, silence is better than sound. Taste slowly, discover slowly, there are always unexpected treasures worth discovering.