A lot of boys and girls in western countries are wearing the same kind of clothes, and many of them have long hair, so it is often difficult to tell whether they are boys or girls.

    One day an old man went for a walk in a park in Washington and when he was tired, he sat down on a chair by a swimming pool. A young person was standing on the other side of the pool.

    "Oh!" the old man said to the person sitting next to him. "Do you see the person with the loose clothes and long hair? Is it a boy or a girl?"

    "A girl," said his neighbor. "She is my daughter."

    "Oh!" the old man said quickly. "Please forgive me. I didn't know that you were her mother."

    "I'm not," said the person. "I'm her father."

    Walter Dean Myers，born on August 12，1937，was an American writer of children's books．He was known for young adult literature （文学） He wrote more than 100 books，including picture books and non﹣fiction．"I care about writing for young people because I remember how much I needed help and guidance at that time in my life，"Myers said in his book．

    Myers loved writing．He got up at five o'clock every morning．He worked at home in a small office that used to be his son's bedroom．

    Myers would first write an outline for every book．He called this prewriting．He imagined what the story would be and wrote down ideas in a notebook．To make sure there's enough action and dialogue for a good story，he thought of 30scenes．He wrote a short description of each scene in his notebook．

    He also cut out pictures of real people and put them on his office walls．He looked at those pictures and came up with ideas．Once he knew what the story would be and who the characters were，he began to write the book．He wrote five pages a day on his computer．

    Myers usually worked on three books at a time．When he was not prewriting or writing a book，he might be rewriting something he had already completed．Then he would send the story to his agent （经纪人）．He or she made suggestions for the story．After these final changes were made，the book was published and made its way to bookstores and libraries．By that time，Myers would begin to write his next book．"I want to do the best that I can with my writing．"said Myers．

    Barbara Finch, from England, started a friendship with Elizabeth Martin from New Zealand when the two were just 14 years old. And they have been penfriends for the past seventy years.

    "Seventy years is a long time and such a lot has happened," says Barbara. "I've lost my husband and my son, and she's lost her husband and her daughter. With things like that, her friendship means a lot to me."

    The two started writing letters to each other in November 1947. At that time, Barbara was a pupil. In her school. there was an exchange(交换) teacher from New Zealand. She helped her students to find penfriends from her country. Among the many penfriends, Barbara and Elizabeth were the only pair to form a long-term friendship.

    Now both 84, the pair continue to send weekly e-mails to tell each other about their daily lives. Barbara, who's a proud great-grandmother, has kept every single letter and card Elizabeth sent her over the years.

    "We e-mail each other now rather than write letters, partly because it's quicker but mostly because there's no cost," Barbara says.

    The pair not only write to each other, but they also meet face to face. They have visited each other 15 times. Barbara flying to New Zealand 10 times and Elizabeth flying to England 5 times.

    "Her family has become a second family to me. She says I am the sister she never had." Barbara says.

    There was once an ugly fairy living in a fairy country. She was the kindest and cleverest of all fairies. However, no one liked her, because they strongly believed that the most important thing about a fairy was her beauty. Every time she was ready to help a child or anyone else in trouble, before she could say a word they were already shouting at her, "Ugly! Get out of here!"

    Although she was little, she had great magic power. More than once she thought about using it to make herself beautiful. But she remembered what her mother had always told her, "My dear, you are what you are."

    One day, the witches (女巫) came and caught the fairies, putting them in prison. The ugly fairy, just before being caught, put a spell (咒语) on her pretty dress. Helped by her ugly face, she succeeded in making herself look like a witch. That way she was able to follow the witches back to their country.

    The fairy used her magic power to prepare a big party for everyone there. While they were enjoying themselves, she left quietly and let free other fairies. When all of them got out of the prison, they worked together on one big spell and succeeded in putting the witches inside the mountain for the next hundred years.

    From that day on everyone remembered the brave and clever fairy. And for the next hundred years, and more, when someone ugly was born in that country, everyone was filled with joy.