Running the Road to ABC

By Denize Lauture, Illustrated by Reynold Ruffins                                                               (Simon & Schuster Books for young readers – 1996)

Three boys and three girls go up and down steep hills everyday to school. They start to run at daybreak, and run not only over the hills but also through the fields and across the city square to arrive the school before it starts. With poetic text and bright-colored vibrancies of Haitian fold art, the book captures the happiness of learning.

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3人の少年と3人の少女は、毎朝学校へ行くのに急勾配の丘を幾つも越えてゆく。6人は日の出と共に走りだすのだが、丘だけでなく平野を横切り街中を通過して、学校の開始に間に合うように走り続ける。詩的な言葉とハイチの民族色あるれる色彩の絵が、学ぶ幸せを上手に表現している。