Abstract: With vivid pictures and interesting narratives, picture books can stimulate children’s imagination and creativity, and cultivate their early reading ability. Picture books, especially high-quality ones introduced from abroad, have become increasingly popular in China. It is worth noting that the quality of translation of introduced picture books can make or break the introduction work. This paper analyzes the English to Chinese translation of picture books from the perspective of the Skopos Theory in order to explore specific ways to improve the quality of translation. Given the vital role played by picture books in children’s early education, the translation study of them is both necessary and meaningful.

Key Words: picture books, translation, the Skopos Theory

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction-1

2. Literature Review-1

2.1 Picture Books-1

2.1.1 The Definition of Picture Books-1

2.1.2 The Functions of Picture Books-2

2.1.3 The Development of Picture Books-3

2.1.4 The Linguistic Features of Picture Books-3

2.1.4.1 Simple-4

2.1.4.2 Rhythmical-4

2.1.4.3 Interesting-5

2.2 The Characteristics of Children-6

2.2.1 The Language Development of Children-6

2.2.2 The Psychological Development of Children-6

2.2.3 The Cognitive Development of Children-7

2.3 Skopos Theory-8

2.3.1 The Development of the Skopos Theory-8

2.3.2 The Key Points of the Skopos Theory-9

3. The Application of the ST in the E-C Translation of Picture Books-9

3.1 Sounds-10

3.1.1 Alliteration-10

3.1.1.1 Reduplicated Words-11

3.1.1.2 Chinese Shuangsheng-11

3.1.1.3 Four-Character Structure-11

3.1.2 Rhyme-12

3.1.3 Repetition-13

3.2 Words-13

3.2.1 Simple Words-14

3.2.2 Colloquial Words-14

3.2.3 Reduplicated Words-15

3.2.4 Onomatopoetic Words-15

3.3 Sentences-16

3.3.1 To Break Up Long Sentences-16

3.3.2 To Regroup Sentences-16

4. Suggestive Methods of the E-C Translation of Picture Books-17

4.1 Childrenese-17

4.2 Repetition-17

4.3 Conversion-18

4.4 Division-18

5. Conclusion-19

Bibliography-20