Series ‘A Century of Chinese Children’s Literature’ Launches at the 2018 Bologna Children’s Book Fair

In Publishing in China by China Publishers Magazine

China Translation & Publishing House launched an anthology of Chinese children’s stories in Bologna and announced rights deals for Arabic and Spanish.

At the launch of ‘A Century of Chinese Children’s Literature’ in English during the 2018 Bologna Book Fair

By the editors of the China Publishers Magazine

In March 2018, the 55th Bologna Children’s Book Fair welcomed China as the Guest of Honor. On the afternoon of March 27, 2018, China Publishing Group, China Translation & Publishing House launched the English-language edition of A Century of Chinese Children’s Literature. This series was a key component of the promotion of copyrights overseas that China Publishing Group put on display during the Bologna Children’s Book Fair this year.

The selections included in A Century of Chinese Children’s Literature include the greats of Chinese contemporary children’s literature. The quality of the literature has attracted experienced Chinese-to-English translators from the UK and US. Well-known Sinologists and translators from the US, UK, and Canada translated and reviewed the works, which are accompanied by Chinese illustrations.

After this edition is released, French and Spanish editions will be published and promoted internationally. The launch in Bologna was attended by:

  • Sun Yuemu, Vice President, China Publishing Group
  • Zhang Gaoli, Editor-in-chief, China Translation Corporation
  • Dr. Wang Quangen, Professor of Literature at Beijing Normal University
  • Wang Shaohua, Co-founder and Vice President, China-Italy Publishing Cultural Association

Stories in the book series include Jin Bo’s Wu Diudiu’s Adventure, Liu Xianping’s Legend of the Giant Panda, Gao Hongbo’s Fish in An Ice Lantern, Shen Shixi’s Bird Slaves, Yang Hongying’s Looking for the Mermaid, Wu Meizhen’s Adventure of Lan Xiaoyu, Xue Tao’s September Glacier, and Yang Peng’s Dad in My Pocket.

These eight works are extremely popular among Chinese children, and range from fables to novels, from scientific stories to poetic fairy tales, and from stories about animals to fantastic legends, portraying the five generations of creation in contemporary Chinese children’s literature.

There is also a dual-language edition in Chinese and English planned. which aims to provide children ages 8-15 with a bilingual reading experience.

In addition to launching the English version of A Century of Chinese Children’s Literature, China Publishing Group also signed rights contracts at the Bologna Book Fair to translate the title into Arabic and Spanish. The publisher was also able to lay the foundation for several other partnerships with foreign publishing houses.

This article is part of a content cooperation between China Publishers Magazine and Publishing Perspectives with the goal of making available more information about the Chinese book market.

About the Author

China Publishers Magazine

China Publishers Magazine is a Beijing-based trade magazine for the Chinese book publishing industry. The magazine is part of China South Publishing & Media Group, headquartered in the Hunan Province. Through a cooperation with Publishing Perspectives, we bring you more information in English about the Chinese book market.