One of the best-known American writers of children's books is Alfred Strong, or Doctor Strong, as he is better known to readers everywhere．Now, an art show called "Doctor Strong From Then to Now" is travelling around the United States．The pictures and drawings show the history of Doctor Strong．

    Doctor Strong first became famous almost fifty years ago when his first children's book was published (出版)．Since then, he has written forty—five books that have been sold more than one hundred million copies around the world．

    Doctor Strong's books are known for their easy use of words and colourful, hand drawn pictures．These drawings bring life to his imaginary creatures, The Cat in the Hat, Horton the Elephant, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, and hundreds of others．

    The San Diego Museum, in California, organized the art show．It included about three hundred Doctor Strong's early drawings and some of his writings．

Most of Doctor Strong's books, although written in a funny way, have serious messages．For example, in McElligot's Pool, he describes the danger of pollution．He discusses the arms race (军备竞赛) in The Butter Battle Book, written in nineteen eighty four．

    Doctor Strong says he never planned to write stories just for children．He says he writes stories that interest people of all ages．He says he uses easy words so that everyone, even a child, can understand．

    In 1997,12-year-old American girl Caitlin and 14-year-old Zimbabwean (津巴布韦人) Martin became pen friends through their schools. They didn't realize at that time how their handwritten letters would change their lives.

    It all began as a school task. Everyone in Caitlin's class was supposed to choose a pen friend from another country. All the other kids picked countries like France or Germany, but Caitlin chose Zimbabwe because the name sounded exotic(异国的) and cool.

    Martin lived with his family in one of Zimbabwe's worst slums(贫民窟) where they shared one room with another family. And a bed was their only piece of furniture.

    When Caitlin's first letters reached Martin, they were simple and general. The two kids wrote about their favorite music and what they liked to do. But as Martin gradually revealed more about his life and his letters started arriving written on pieces of trash, Caitlin realized what the living conditions were like for Martin. Without telling her parents, she began sending money with her letters—$ 20 at a time. While the money was not much to Caitlin, it meant more food for Martin's family and enabled him to pay his school fees.

    It lasted six years from their first exchange of letters to Martin's arrival in the United States. With the help of the money from Caitlin's parents later on, Martin finished his university and got his MBA from Duke University.

    Today, Caitlin and Martin aren't only best friends, but they also share their story in a book called I Will Always Write Back. They want to encourage readers to look beyond their own lives and do something kind for others, which might greatly influence their lives.

    Mr. Brown has got a dog. Its name is Ben. And the dog is very good to Mr. Brown.

    One hot day, Mr. Brown returned home from work and said to himself, "I want to know where the water jar (罐子) is." Then he found the water jar with clean water. Mr. Brown wanted to drink some water. But the dog barked (吠叫).

    "Oh, Ben! Please be quiet! I will give you some water," said Mr. Brown. But the dog didn't stop barking and even jumped up to him. "What? Let me drink some water first. Then I will give you something to eat," said Mr. Brown. But the dog still didn't stop barking. And the dog still jumped up and even broke the jar at last. Mr. Brown got very angry (生气的). But soon, he found a snake (蛇) in the pieces of the jar. He knew about the snake. It was poisonous. It could be very dangerous for him if he drank the water. Mr. Brown thanked the dog a lot.

    7-year-old Tom likes cartoons very much. When the cartoons begin on TV, he does nothing until they're over. Sometimes he waits for a long time and goes to bed late. In the morning his mother has to wake him up, or he'll be late for school.

    Yesterday Tom heard there would be an interesting cartoon today. This morning, as soon as he got up, he turned on the television, but he didn't see the programme on it. He had to have breakfast and then go to school. After school he ran home while his mother was cooking lunch in the kitchen. He hurried to the sitting room and turned on the television again, but he couldn't find the cartoon. He rushed into the kitchen and asked his mother for help.

    "It's only ten to twelve now," said the woman," your programme will start after dinner." "Well, let's have dinner right now!"

    Lily is from New York, the USA. She is ten. Now, she is in Shanghai No. 3 Middle School. She is in Class One, Grade Seven. Her phone number is 6678-6091.Dongdong is from Kunming. His English name is Tom. He is eleven. He is in Class Two, Grade Seven. His telephone number is 633-1890. They are not in the same class. They are good friends.