Chinese books gain popularity among children

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The children’s section of the event is attracting crowds of parents and kids. More than 10,000 storybooks from home and abroad are on display here. In previous years, imported books have been most popular among Chinese children. But will Chinese storybooks reverse the tide this year?

Comics, cartoons, novels, all of these books have a very specific target audience. No spotlights, no celebrities, this area is filled with the laughter of kids.

Zhao Jianping, vice manager of Shanghai Xinhua Media Chain, says,“Since last year, the Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair has become an important part of the Shanghai Book Fair. It gathers almost all of the best publishing houses on the Chinese mainland.

In addition, we also hold a lot of cultural activities specially designed for children. Many authors are also invited to the fair to meet the children and their parents. Its influence on Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta keeps increasing.”

The children’s section of the event is attracting crowds of parents and kids. More than 10,000 storybooks from home and abroad are on display here.

Yuan Yani, from Shanghai, says,“In this area, children are the focus. Here we can find thousands of storybooks from all over the world. This one looks nice. But what are their favorites?”

The answer this year seems to be books by Chinese authors and illustrators. Many books from abroad are featured at the fair, but Chinese classics, as well as many other newly published books have been attracting the most attention.

A Chinese woman says,“He likes ‘Stories of Ma Xiaotiao’, and ‘Mr. Black’. Compared with imported books, he prefers Chinese ones. We came to the book fair last year at the end of July. He liked it very much. So this year, he always asked me when the book fair would open. And we came here on the first day.”

Over the past five years, the sales volume of Chinese children’s books has increased by nearly 10 percent. This has made publishing of the books a sunrise industry in China.

Li Yuantao, president of Juvenile & Children's Publishing House, says, “Children’s books’ publishing in China has been flourishing since the beginning of the century. We have a lot of wonderful Chinese authors who have created many well-written storybooks.

Their works have won huge popularity among Chinese children. Compared to the past, there is more variety and more good authors in China. So the quality of Chinese storybooks is as good as imported ones.”

As of 2010, there were more than 200 million children in China, accounting for one sixth of the population. But the publishing volume of children’s books is only about 270 million each year. That means there is still a lot of room for growth.

The children’s section of the event is attracting crowds of parents and kids. More than 10,000 storybooks from home and abroad are on display here.

The children’s section of the event is attracting crowds of parents and kids. More than 10,000 storybooks from home and abroad are on display here.

The children’s section of the event is attracting crowds of parents and kids. More than 10,000 storybooks from home and abroad are on display here.