书的名字《The Dot》耐人寻味，翻译为中文《点》有一语双关的意思，只要给孩子一点点鼓励，TA就能有信心做得更好，甚至把自己的潜能发挥出来成为最好的自己。

这个故事老师和家长可以学习到：给一“点”鼓励，就能激发孩子无限的可能！ 这是激发孩子无限潜能的关键点，更是开启孩子无限未来的关键点。

The art class was over, but Vashti sat glued to her chair.

美术课结束了，但沃诗提还没有走。她坐在位子上。

Her paper was empty.

画纸仍旧是一片空白。

Vashti’s teacher leaned over blank paper.

这时，她的老师走了过来，探身看着空白的画纸。

“Ah! A polar bear in a snow storm,” she said.

惊叹道：“哇，是一只冰天雪地里的白色北极熊”。

“Very funny!” said Vashti. “I just can’t draw!”

“真可笑，” 沃诗提说，“我根本就不会画画”。

Her teacher smiled. “Just make a mark and see it takes you.”

但老师微笑着说：“你哪怕是做个记号也可以，看看会是什么样子”。

Vashti grabbed a felt-tipped pen and gave the paper a good, strong jab. “There!”

沃诗提听了猛的抓起一个带橡皮的铅笔，用力的在纸上戳了一下，说：“就这儿了”。

Her teacher picked up the paper and studied it carefully. “Hmmmm.”

老师拿起画纸，细细的研究起来：“嗯——！”

She pushed the paper towards Vashti and quietly said, “Now sign it.”

然后，老师把画纸放回到沃诗提面前，说：“现在把你的名字签上去吧”。

Vashti thought for a moment. “Well, maybe I can’t draw, but I CAN sign my name.”

沃诗提看着画纸想了一会，自言自语道：“也许我不会画画，但签名我还是会的。”

The next week, when Vashti walked into her art class, she was surprised to see what was hanging above her teacher’s desk.

第二周，当沃诗提再次走进美术教室的时候，她惊奇的发现在老师的桌子上面挂着的一幅画。

It was the little dot she had drawn- HER DOT!

那是她画的点啊！

All framed in swirly gold!

而且画已经用旋涡状的金黄色相框装了起来。

“Hmmph! I can make a better dot than THAT!”

“噢！” 沃诗提思考着，“我可以画比这个点更好的点喔！”

She opened her never-before used set of watercolours and set to work.

于是，她把已经很久不用的水彩笔拿了出来，准备开始画了。

Vashti painted and painted. A yellow dot. A green dot. A red dot. A blue dot.

沃诗提画呀，画呀，画了好多的点，有红点、绿点、黄点、蓝点……

The blue mixed with the red.

突然，一个蓝色的点和一个红色的点交汇了

She discovered that she could make a PURPLE dot.

发现中间出现了一个紫色的点。

Vashti keptexperimenting.Lot of little dots in many colours.

沃诗提一直不停的尝试下去，又画出了许多不同颜色的点。

“If I can make little dots, I can make BIG dots, too.”

“如果我可以画小点，我就可以画大点。”

Vashti splashed her colours with a bigger brush on bigger paper to make bigger dots.

沃诗提说完就拿起了一只大画笔，在一张大纸上挥毫起来。

Vashti even made a dot by NOT painting a dot.

沃诗提甚至在没有画点的情况下，让纸上出现了一个点。

At the school art show a few weeks later, Vashti’s many dots made quite a splash.

几周后，在学校的艺术展览上，沃诗提画的各种各样的点画让大家大开眼界。

Vashti noticed a little boy gazing up at her.

沃诗提注意到有一个小男孩在认真的看着她的画。

“You’re a really great artist. I wish I could draw.” he said.

他对沃诗提说：“你真是个大艺术家，要是我也可以画画该多好啊！”

“ I bet you can,” said Vashti.

“你当然可以，我可以保证” 沃诗提说。

“Me? No, not me. I can’t draw a straight line with a ruler.”

“我？不可能的，即使用尺子比着，我连一条直线也不会画。”小男孩说。

Vashti smile. She handed the boy a blank sheet of paper. “ Show me.”

沃诗提笑了，她递给小男孩一张空白纸，说：“你画给我看好吗？”

The boy’s pencil shook as he drew his line.

小男孩画了起来，他在画的时候笔在颤抖。

Vashti started at the boy’s squiggle. And then she said…

沃诗提盯着小男孩的话看了一会然后说...

“ Please… sign it.”

“请在这里签名。”