名人教英文： max and mei
max and mei, created by martha keswick, is a unique series of bilingual children's picture books.
《麦思和美美》是一系列罕见的双语幼童图画书。
these picture books are well thought out and designed round the theme of the chinese zodiac animals. each book uses an animal of the chinese zodiac to tell an interesting story of adventure, based on familiar experiences of everyday life. the stories are fun and playful, describing the characteristics of each zodiac animal and introducing relevant elements of chinese culture at the same time.
此系列悉心策划的书以中国生肖做主题，每本书以有趣的方式及精彩的探险故事，透过生活上所遇的经验来介绍每个生肖动物的特色，同时介绍相关中国传统文化。
multi-purpose reading material
the stories are intended for english speaking children to learn chinese. thus, every authentic english sentence is translated into chinese, using simplified chinese characters, complete with notations in standard pinyin.
这书的原意是用英文来教只会英语的孩子学好中文，因此每句正统的英文句子有其中文的翻译，也注有标准的普通话拼音。
as the adage goes: a picture says more than a thousand words. illustrations in these picture books, created by mariko jesse, are quite extraordinary. they incorporate sketches and drawings into photographic collages, thereby combining a sense of reality with fantasy, stimulating the interest and imagination in a reader's mind.
正如谚语有说︰一图胜万言。这书里由mariko jesse创作的图画也特别精美。书里的草图素描与照片贴拼成的图画，既真实又可引导孩子们的想象力，也可刺激他们对阅读的兴趣。
there are also free audio soundtracks available online to support accuracy in pronunciation.
网上免费提供的音带更可帮助读者正确的发音。
it appears this interesting series of picture books can benefit different readers. basically, it helps english-speaking children to learn "mandarin" chinese. these bilingual series can also help chinese-speakers to learn some good, natural english and, based on the pinyin, they can learn some mandarin to boot. whatever the purpose, this series makes rather interesting reading.
看来此图画书系列可以帮助不同的读者。本质上，这系列图画书可教只识英语的小朋友 学好「以普通话为主的」中文。与此同时，这些双语书本也可帮助华语学生学好生动自然的英文，这书里所注的拼音更可额外帮助学生学普通话呢。无论用途何在，这一系列的图画书都是颇有趣的阅读。
publisher & author
publisher: ppp company limited
martha keswick is the author of the popular max and mei picture book series. she graduated from newcastle university in the uk with a degree in english literature. she is keenly interested in chinese culture and the chinese language. this has led her to complete an intensive mandarin course at the national university of singapore in 2002. through these books, she hopes to share with other children her love for learning chinese. she and her family currently live in hong kong.