Related News
Children鈥檚 books stoke imagination, buoy publishers
A magical white deer saves a fisherman from drowning. The fisherman then captures the deer and sells it to a monster. He is punished by the god of the mountain.
鈥淭ale of the White Deer,鈥 a modern retelling of a very ancient legend, was exhibited at the recent China Shanghai International Children鈥檚 Book Fair. The book, illustrated by Ma Penghao, with text by author Zhang Jinjiang, feeds the imagination of children enchanted by stories of mythical beasts.
Last year, Ma, in collaboration with author Peng Xuejun, enchanted fair goers with 鈥淕ranny Xiu and the Peach Blossom Fish,鈥 a story drawn from the legends of elderly witches that fascinated Peng in her childhood in the mountains of Hunan Province.
Children鈥檚 books are more than just flights of fantasy for the young. They are also big business for authors and publishers, as the three-day fair reminded us.
Wrapping up this year with around 1,500 copyright and collaboration deals, the fair goes from strength to strength. The exhibition space was expanded, and there was a 30 percent rise in new exhibitors from countries such as Colombia, Iran, Latvia, Lebanon, Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates.
In 2022, the fair will celebrate its 10th anniversary with double exhibition space, according to Zeng Yuan, from the Shanghai Press and Publication Bureau.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a very ambitious vision,鈥 Zeng, the newly appointed mastermind behind the fair, told Shanghai Daily.
China has become a big market for children鈥檚 books, and Shanghai鈥檚 prominence as a center of commerce and culture is promoting the trend. Many international publishers and agents visiting the city said they were impressed by the fair鈥檚 scope and the book business in the city.
鈥淚鈥檓 seeing a very big difference here,鈥 said Cecilia de la Campa, executive director for global licensing and domestic partnerships of American literary agency Writers House.
鈥淐hildren鈥檚 books around the world have been a steady market, and the Chinese market is booming right now,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e sell almost everything available very quickly, and we are now pre-selling titles that will be published in the States in 2022.鈥
De la Campa was part of the SHVIP program with 11 other publishers from around the world. The program invites international publishers to visit local publishers, bookstores and the fair to take the pulse of the market.
She said she particularly noticed the heavy focus on picture books, the scope of Chinese talent and lack of young adult books.
鈥淧icture books and the talent of Chinese authors are fascinating,鈥 she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 very excited about what we can take back to publishing houses in the US. The exchange works both ways.鈥
Many Chinese publishers and authors have used the fair to introduce themselves to the international book market, with hundreds of copyrights sold across the world since the fair started seven years ago, especially in picture books.
Illustrator Ma said deals signed at the fair call for 鈥淭ale of the White Deer鈥 to be published in Malaysia and Italy.
The book is part of a series that modernizes and reinterprets legends from 鈥淐lassic of Mountains and Seas,鈥 dating back to the 4th century BC. It gives a mythical geographical account that traces more than 500 mountains and 300 waterways and the fabulous beasts residing there. The tale of the white deer was recorded in classic text in only 27 characters.
鈥淢any tales from this classic book, done more than 2,000 years ago, are not complete, but the fabulous accounts provide exciting details, wild imagination and vast amounts of material for us to expand on and modernize,鈥 said Zhang, author of 鈥淭ale of the White Deer鈥 and chief editor of the series.
Like many Chinese authors and illustrators, Zhang and Ma are drifting away from the traditional educational purpose of Chinese children鈥檚 books and focusing more on inspiring the imagination of the children.
In the last 10 years, children鈥檚 books have grown faster than the whole book market in China. According to publishing research company Beijing OpenBook Info, children鈥檚 books comprised only about 8 percent of the market back in 1999. Today, they account for a quarter. Retail sales of children鈥檚 books grew by 17 percent in the first nine months of this year, and rapid growth is expected to continue.
鈥淲e are confident in expansion in the next three years because books, especially children鈥檚 books, are no longer just books,鈥 said Zeng. 鈥淭hey are about reading and a cultural lifestyle.鈥
At the forefront is the digitalization of children鈥檚 books, be it a simple e-book, an interactive digital edition or audio books. This may be one area where the Chinese market is ahead of the rest of the world, thanks to the vast number of Internet and mobile users.
Aksel Kole, chief executive of digital picture book library Piboco, said he finds it easier to convey his ideas to Chinese Internet companies than to companies back home in Europe.
Piboco is a subscription app pre-launching in Denmark and France with interactive picture books. Kole, who was also on the SHVIP program, was specifically here searching for Chinese partners ahead of a planned launch in China in two or three years.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS
- |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔$粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.