全台唯一，英文學習版，內含中小學100+英文單字解析
英國家庭代代相傳的經典魔法故事
英國國寶級童書作家、影響《哈利波特》作者J.K. 羅琳的經典童書
英國首相推薦「童年必讀枕邊書」
★【用經典英文故事，開啟孩子的英文閱讀力】
《許願椅》系列為英國國寶級童書作家伊妮‧布萊敦所寫，內容運用淺顯易懂的英文詞彙，並且以魔法故事吸引孩子的閱讀目光。讓這本書不僅是三代英國家庭必備的經典床邊故事，也是英國孩子開啟閱讀力的經典故事。
★【中小學生必備100+英文單字解析】
本書內含中小學生必備100+英文單字解析，讓孩子可以在閱讀英文故事的同時，能夠輕鬆了解重要單字的解釋、詞性、發音，讓英文學習更加完整、輕鬆。
★【華德福教育給小學生的推薦書單】
華德福學校推薦──讓孩子在奇幻的故事中，讓想像力飛翔。
★【英國家長最愛的經典故事】
作者為著名英國國寶級作家、最受歡迎童書女王──伊妮‧布萊敦，其創作也被收錄於英國童書界推薦《長大之前一定要看的1001本童書》，經典故事永不退流行。
★【全球兒童文學名家熱烈推薦】
《哈利波特》作者J.K. 羅琳最難忘的童書作者、英國首相布萊爾（Tony Blair）推薦「童年必讀枕邊書」。
▲如果你有一張「許願椅」，你會許下什麼願望，到哪個奇幻王國冒險呢？
為了送媽媽一個特別的生日禮物，茉莉與彼得在無意間進入了一間奇怪的舊商店。在商店裡，奇特的妖精店員為了幫他們找包裝紙，不小心打開了巫師主人的魔法箱，箱子裡的魔法蝴蝶與狐狸，全都跑出來了！
此時，巫師從樓上下來，發現了商店裡居然亂成一團，他兇巴巴的逼著茉莉與彼得幫忙把魔法蝴蝶與狐狸全都抓回來，否則就不讓他們離開。嚇呆了的茉莉與彼得不知該如何是好。
在這個緊急的時刻，他們屁股底下的椅子突然動了起來！原來，這是一張「許願椅」！只要向它許下願望，就能帶你到想去的任何地方！
茉莉與彼得在許願椅的幫助下，逃離了這間奇怪的商店。他們興奮極了，乘坐這張飛天魔椅展開一段奇幻之旅。他們在巨人的城堡拯救了小妖精奇奇、在夢之國不小心變成了氣球、在前往消失島的路上掉到海中……他們遇到了許許多多的精靈、妖怪、巫師、地精……還幫助了妖精奇奇的故鄉──蘋果派村莊，趕走了討人厭的??巫師。
他們又會遇到哪些奇妙的冒險、遇見哪些奇特的生物呢？
＊本書特色＊
1. 用經典故事培養英文閱讀力
透過童年的故事閱讀，陪養孩子的英文敏感度。有趣的故事，不但可以避免孩子排斥英文學習，同時可以加深孩子對英文閱讀的興趣。適合的故事長度，也可以減少孩子接觸英文原文故事的恐懼。《許願椅》不論在故事情節或是長度上，都相當適合開始英文故事的國中小孩童。
2. 用英國國寶級童書建構英文字彙力
透過自行閱讀英文故事，便可無形的培養孩子的英文字彙能力。就算故事裡有孩子不認識、不熟悉的詞語，透過故事的連貫性，孩子便可以輕鬆理解新的字詞，是建構孩子英文字彙力最好的方式。
3. 想像力發展
故事是培養孩子想像力最好的老師。兒童時期是想像力發展最快速的階段，透過天馬行空的故事與情節，讓孩子徜徉於奇幻的冒險中。對兒童來說，簡單、有趣、奇幻的故事情境，就是發展日常想像力最好的場所。
【教育界人士專文推薦】
「《許願椅》的故事引起孩子的同理，又能身歷其境的在閱讀中模擬換位思考。」──徐明佑（華德福資深教師）
「閱讀文字書，可以培養兒童最上乘的想像能力；透過《許願椅》的精采故事，孩子腦海中的想像可以無邊無際的擴張、離家去冒險。」──陳安儀（親職教育部落客）
【兒童文學界、教育界人士大力推荐】
王淑芬｜兒童文學作家
李宜珊｜華德福媽媽、《華德福經典遊戲書》譯者
李貞慧｜繪本推廣作家
李裕光｜國際蒙特梭利小學副校長
胖叔叔（陳銘驤）｜國際說故事人
張美蘭（小熊媽）｜親職教養、繪本作家
許建崑｜東海大學中文系教授
陳郁如｜華文兒少奇幻故事作家，《修煉系列》、《仙靈系列－詩魂、詞靈》作者
彭菊仙｜親子作家
黃筱茵｜兒童文學工作者
溫美玉｜南大附小教師、全台最大教學社群創辦人
葛琦霞｜悅讀學堂執行長
賴嘉綾｜作家、繪本評論家
伊妮‧布萊敦（Enid Blyton）
1897年出生於英國，兒童作家伊妮‧布萊敦是三代歐美兒童，最難以忘懷的童書作家。她的作品充滿想像力、創造力，奇幻的情節甚至影響了《哈利波特》作者J.K. 羅琳的作品，更是前英國首相東尼‧布萊爾（Tony Blair）大力推薦的「童年必讀枕邊書」。
多產的伊妮‧布萊敦，畢生創作超過1000個故事，其作品更被翻譯超過90種語言，影響著世界各地的孩子。
伊妮‧布萊敦受歡迎的程度，更於1982年，獲選由一萬位11歲英國孩童投票出最受歡迎兒童文學作家、連續十年被評為「英國十大最受歡迎作家」、2008年更榮獲英國「柯斯塔圖書獎」最受喜愛的英國作者，不論大人小孩，都會喜愛她所寫下的精采、魔幻、獨具想像力的經典故事。
1 THE STRANGE OLD SHOP
2 THE GIANT'S CASTLE
3 THE GRABBIT GNOMES
4 THE HO-HO WIZARD
5 POOR LOST BINKY
6 THE LAND OF DREAMS
7 THE RUNAWAY CHAIR
8 THE LOST CAT
9 THE WITCH KIRRI-KIRRI
10 THE DISAPPEARING ISLAND
11 THE MAGICIAN'S PARTY
12 THE WISHING-CHAIR IS FOOLISH
13 THE POLITE GOBLIN
14 THE SPINNING HOUSE
15 WITCH SNIPPIT
16 THE SILLY BOY
17 THE WINDY WIZARD
18 MR. TWISTY
19 TWO BAD CHILDREN
20 THE HORRID QUARREL
21 THE ENCHANTER CLIP-CLAP
22 THE STRANGE TOWER
23 THE GREAT ESCAPE
24 BIG-EARS THE GOBLIN
25 THE SNOOGLE
26 THE SNOOGLE'S CASTLE
1 THE STRANGE OLD SHOP
The adventures really began on the day that Mollie and Peter went out to spend thirty-five pence on a present for their mother’s birthday.
They emptied the money out of their money-box and counted it.
‘Thirty-five!’ said Peter. ‘Good! Now, what shall we buy Mother?’
‘Mother loves old things,’ said Mollie. ‘If we could find an old shop somewhere, full of old things-you know, funny spoons, quaint vases, old glasses and beads-something of that sort would be lovely for Mother. She would love an old teacaddy to keep the tea in, I’m sure, or perhaps an old, old vase.’
‘All right,’ said Peter. ‘We’ll go and find one of those shops this very day. Put on your hat and come on, Mollie.’
Off they went, and ran into the town.
‘It’s a shop with the word “Antiques” over it that we want,’ said Peter. ‘Antiques means old things. Just look out for that, Mollie.’
But there seemed to be no shop with the word ‘Antiques’ printed over it at all. The children left the main street and went down a little turning. There were more shops there, but still not the one they wanted. So on they went and came to a small, narrow street whose houses were so close that there was hardly any light in the road!
And there, tucked away in the middle, was the shop with ‘Antiques’ printed on a label inside the dirty window.
‘Good!’ said Peter. ‘Here is a shop that sells old things. Look, Mollie, do you see that strange little vase with swans set all round it? I’m sure Mother would like that. It is marked twenty-five pence. We could buy that and some flowers to put in it!’
So into the old dark shop they went. It was so dark that the children stumbled over some piled-up rugs on the floor. Nobody seemed to be about. Peter went to the counter and rapped on it. A tiny door at the back opened and out came the strangest little man, no higher than the countertop. He had pointed ears like a pixie. The children stared at him in surprise. He looked very cross, and spoke sharply.
‘What do you want, making a noise like that?’
‘We want to buy the vase with swans round it,’ said Peter. Muttering and grumbling to himself, the little chap picked up the vase and pushed it across the counter. Peter put down the money. ‘Can I have some paper to wrap the vase in?’ he asked politely. ‘You see, it’s for my mother’s birthday, and I don’t want her to see me carrying it home.’
Grumbling away to himself, the little man went to a pile of boxes at the back of the shop and began to open one to look for a piece of paper. The children watched. To their enormous surprise a large black cat with golden eyes jumped out of the box and began to spit and snarl at the little man. He smacked it and put it back again. He opened another box.
Out of that came a great wreath of green smoke that wound about the shop and smelt strange. The little man caught hold of it as if it were a ribbon and tried to stuff it back into the box again. But it broke off and went wandering away. How he stamped and raged! The children felt quite frightened.
‘We’d better go without the paper,’ whispered Mollie to Peter, but just then another extraordinary thing happened. Out of the next box came a crowd of blue butterflies. They flew into the air, and the little man shouted with rage again. He darted to the door and shut it, afraid that the butterflies would escape. To the children’s horror they saw him lock the door too and put the key into his pocket!
‘We can’t get out till he lets us go!’ said Mollie. ‘Oh dear, why did we ever come here? I’m sure that little man is a gnome or something.’
The little fellow opened another box, and, hey presto ! out jumped a red fox! It gave a short bark and then began to run about the shop, its nose to the ground. The children were half afraid of being bitten, and they both sat in an old chair together, their legs drawn up off the ground, out of the way of the fox.
It was the most curious shop they had ever been in! Fancy keeping all those queer things in boxes! Really, there must be magic about somewhere. It couldn’t be a proper shop.
The children noticed a little stairway leading off the shop about the middle, and suddenly at the top of this, there appeared somebody else! It was somebody tall and thin, with such a long beard that it swept the ground. On his head was a pointed hat that made him seem taller still.
‘Look!’ said Mollie. ‘Doesn’t he look like a wizard?’
‘Tippit, Tippit, what are you doing?’ cried the newcomer, in a strange, deep voice, like the rumbling of faraway thunder.
‘Looking for a piece of paper!’ answered the little man, in a surly tone. ‘And all I can find is butterflies and foxes, a black cat, and-’
‘What! You’ve dared to open those boxes!’ shouted the other angrily. He stamped down the stairs, and then saw the children.
‘And who are you?’ he asked, staring at them. ‘How dare you come here?’
‘We wanted to buy this vase,’ said Peter, frightened.
‘Well, seeing you are here, you can help Tippit to catch the fox,’ said the tall man, twisting his beard up into a knot and tying it under his chin. ‘Come on!’
‘I don’t want to,’ said Mollie. ‘He might bite me. Unlock the door and let us go out.’
‘Not till the fox and all the butterflies are caught and put into their boxes again,’ said the tall man.
‘Oh dear!’ said Peter, making no movement to get out of the chair, in which he and Mollie were still sitting with their legs drawn up. ‘I do wish we were safely at home!’
And then the most extraordinary thing of all happened! The chair they were in began to creak and groan, and suddenly it rose up in the air, with the two children in it! They held tight, wondering whatever was happening! It flew to the door, but that was shut. It flew to the window, but that was shut too.
Meantime the wizard and Tippit were running after it, crying out in rage. ‘How dare you use our wishing-chair! Wish it back, wish it back!’
‘I shan’t !’ cried Peter. ‘Go on, wishing-chair, take us home!’
The chair finding that it couldn’t get out of the door or the window, flew up the little stairway. It nearly got stuck in the doorway at the top, which was rather narrow, but just managed to squeeze itself through. Before the children could see what the room upstairs was like, the chair flew to the window there, which was open, and out it went into the street. It immediately rose up very high indeed, far beyond the housetops, and flew towards the children’s home. How amazed they were! And how tightly they clung to the arms! It would be dreadful to fall!
‘I say, Mollie, can you hear a flapping noise?’ said Peter. ‘Has the chair got wings anywhere?’
Mollie peeped cautiously over the edge of the chair. ‘Yes!’ she said. ‘It has a little red wing growing out of each leg, and they make the flapping noise! How queer!’
The chair began to fly downwards. The children saw that they were just over their garden.
‘Go to our playroom, chair,’ said Peter quickly. The chair went to a big shed at the bottom of the garden. Inside was a playroom for the children, and here they kept all their toys and books, and could play any game they liked. The chair flew in at the open door and came to rest on the floor. The children jumped off and looked at one another.
‘The first real adventure we’ve ever had in our lives!’ said Mollie, in delight. ‘Oh, Peter, to think we’ve got a magic chair-a wishing-chair!’
‘Well, it isn’t really ours,’ said Peter, putting the swan vase carefully down on the table. ‘Perhaps we had better send it back to that shop.’
‘I suppose we had,’ said Mollie sadly. ‘It would be so lovely if we could keep it!’
‘Go back to your shop, chair,’ commanded Peter. The chair didn’t move an inch! Peter spoke to it again; still the chair wouldn’t move! There it was and there it stayed. And suddenly the children noticed that its little red wings had gone from the legs! It looked just an ordinary chair now!
‘See, Mollie! The chair hasn’t any wings!’ cried Peter. ‘It can’t fly. I expect it is only when it grows wings that it can fly. It must just have grown them when we were sitting in it in the shop. What luck for us!’
‘Peter! Let’s wait till the chair has grown wings again, and then get in it and see where it goes!’ said Mollie, her face red with excitement. ‘Oh, do let’s!’
‘Well, it might take us anywhere!’ said Peter doubtfully . ‘Still, we’ve always wanted adventures, Mollie, haven’t we? So we’ll try! The very next time our wishing-chair grows wings, we’ll sit in it and fly off again!’
‘Hurrah!’ said Mollie. ‘I hope it will be tomorrow!’
重要單字：
tuck away (ph.) 隱藏
frightened [ˋfraɪtnd] (adj.) 【口】害怕的
presto [ˋprɛsto] (int.) 轉眼間
shan’t [ʃænt] (abbr.) 【= shall not】 不要、不願
cautiously [ˋkɔʃəslɪ] (adv.) 小心地、謹慎地
doubtfully [ˋdaʊtfəlɪ] (adv.) 懷疑地、含糊地
