Book fever
China’s early education craze driving children’s publishing
Ball pools, slides, lollipops and books... the 2016 China Children’s Book Expo ( CCBE) was not just a paradise for children, but also a carnival for Chinese parents desperately looking for “nutritious” ways to ensure their children don’t fall behind during summer vacation.
From July 8 to Sunday, the expo drew a record 200,000 visitors to the Beijing Exhibition Center. Many of these visitors were kindergarten and primary school kids and their parents, of which a great many fought hard to get into the official CCBE WeChat group just to win a free family ticket a week before the opening.
While the end of China’s decadeslong one- child policy may lead to rising childcare costs for many families planning on having another child, parents will still be willing to spend every penny they have to provide their children with the best when it comes to education.
As such the sales of children’s books, either print or digital, are expected to continue to rise, while the number of prize- winning foreign books imported into China is also expected to increase.
Domestic or imported
With stacks of books littered around a 10- square- meter space, the 21st Century Publishing House put up a “70- 80 percent off” sign outside its CCBE booth to attract parents and kids who were busily searching for bargains. Apart from imported books from the US, the UK and Europe, picture books from South Korea and Japan could also be found in the stacks.
“Our best- known series include works from prize- winning writers such as Cao Wenxuan and James Krüss,” an editor from 21st Century Publishing House who wished to remain anonymous, told the Global Times.
Three out of the four children sitting around were reading picture books from abroad.
“It’s her choice. I think it’s because the stories are told in comic form and children can understand what it says even without reading the words,” said one of the moms, laughing.
“Oh, it’s a book from South Korea. I didn’t even notice. My girl just grabs what she likes at first sight. For sure, imported picture books are more exquisite when it comes to the cover art and content.”
When asked if they prefer domestic books over imported ones, the mom shrugged, “I don’t know. There seems to only be a few high- quality children’s books written by domestic writers.”
This mother’s impression seems to run counter to reality.
Numerous domestic awards, including the National Award for Excellent Children’s Literature, and the Bingxin Children’s Literature Award, have recognized the quality of many local children’s books. The problem seems to be earning the recognition of parents.
The Iron Gate Alleyway, a book that tells the story of the boys and girls living in the alleyways of Beijing through traditional Chinese water color art, sat at the front of the Xinjiang Juvenile Publishing House booth. Although it was from award- winning children’s book author Bao Dongni, passers- by rarely stopped to take a look, instead heading off looking for books such as
Zootopia or those starring Barbie. “I’m just taking a look,” said one mom who stopped by to flip through the book with her 6- year- old, when asked if she was interested in buying it for her child.
“It seems my little girl isn’t interested in this book.”
To encourage the creation of domestic children’s picture books, this year CCBE launched the Zhang Leping Picture Book Award, named after the Chinese painter who created the well- known Chinese comic character “Sanmao.”
The winners, selected by domestic and foreign experts from publishing, literature and education fields before the expo, were exhibited at the expo, thus opening up new publication opportunities in the future.
Despite official support, what other means can the publishing industry use to help domestic creators compete with overseas competitors? Cross- border co- writing is one possible solution.
“We’ve had stories written by Chinese writers and illustrations done by foreign painters,” a salesperson at the booth of the China Children’s Press & Publishing Group told the Global Times.
“While domestic writers have a better idea about what kind of stories suit Chinese children, overseas illustrators know how to make a book look more appealing. In this way, we combine the two and hopefully become more competitive in the market.”
A critical approach
Competition certainly is fierce. Apart from companies that have long focused on children’s books such as the 21st Century Publishing House and the Children’s Fun Publishing Co., Ltd, this profitable market has attracted even more competitors from publishers that traditionally focused on more scholarly books such as the Tsinghua University Publishing House and the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.
According to statistics from China Culture Daily, by the end of 2009, 525 out of 573 publishing houses in China had a line of children’s books.
“We editors also want to publish more domestic books, but the competition is fierce when it comes to cooperating with good domestic writers. These writers tend to prefer authorizing just one publishing house to publish their stories, which makes for better brand management,” the 21st Century Publishing House editor told the Global Times when asked if book editors preferred publishing imported books over those written by domestic authors.
As for why imported books seem to be having more success than domestic works, the editor said that this is probably due to recommendations from teachers at school.
“Many children prefer to buy books they have read in school or those recommended by their teachers.”
Some point out that reading international books is actually a normal trend around the world.
“Australian kids also read books from the US and Britain,” Angel Liang, a kindergarten teacher working in New South Wales, Australia, told the Global Times.
“And stories that are popular in China, such as Thomas
and Friends, are also highly popular here.”
Liang did however point out that local books for kids about Aboriginal culture also do well in Australia.
“Early education here focuses on critical literacy. While reading, we as teachers will encourage children to challenge stories that emphasize things like gender stereotypes,” Liang said.
This type of critical thinking may also be helpful for parents when it comes to choosing books, as “quality education” also comes down to how they teach children to
approach a work.