Foreign authors, illustrators a hit with children
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, November 16, 2015
When it comes to books, foreign authors and illustrators seem to have the inside track on stirring the imaginations of Chinese children.
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A child looks at an exhibition of artworks of Golden Pinwheel Young Illustrators Competition at the Shanghai International Children's Book Fair at the weekend. — Wang Rongjiang |
That was obvious at the 3rd annual China Shanghai International Children's Book Fair, which ended yesterday in Pudong. Parents and children mostly ignored domestic books and flocked to foreign storytellers.
The three-day event offered more than 50,000 book titles from 300 publishers across the world. About 38,000 young readers and their parents and over 8,000 industry insiders attended the fair.
"My daughter likes books with bright colors and fanciful images," said Zhang Ying, mother of a 9-year-old.
"Most Chinese books look too realistic. A leg looks like a real leg and a hand like a real hand. But it doesn't have to be that way for children."
"The 'Berenstain Bears' is my favorite," Zhang's daughter said, timidly peeking from behind her mother's back to mention the US-published series of children's books. "It's about a family of bears."
Indeed, children like make-believe, and what kids want matters to book publishers because China is the world's second-largest market for children's books, accounting for about 12 percent of global sales, according to Nelson Research Inc.
Last year, more than 80 percent of children's books sold in the Chinese market came from abroad. Books by domestic authors and illustrators are low in proportion, and those that are on the market suffer low sales.
According to Chinese online bookseller Dangdang.com, "The Magic School Bus" tops the list of best-selling children's books, followed by "The Young Children's Encyclopedia," and "Maps." All are overseas publications.
"Maps," produced by Poland's Aleksandra Mizielinska and Daniel Mizielinski, sold more than 60,000 copies in the first 100 days after its launch in China, making this nation the biggest market for the book.
The picture book, printed on heavy matte paper, has been lauded for its sumptuous illustrations and witty information.
Many older people in China grew up reading children's classics like "Deer of Nine Colors," and "The Emperor and the Nightingale," published in the 1980s, while elder ones read storybooks with black and white illustrations and realistic-looking characters.
But that's not what interests modern day children.
"To create a children's book, you first have to understand what children want," said Cao Junyan, a Taiwan book illustrator who attended the fair.
Add to that a flair for originality and a knack for entertaining.
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