The China Shanghai International Children's Book Fair

We finally reach the entire reason for my visit - The China Shanghai International Children's Book Fair!The Fair in Shanghai was shaped on the model of the Bologna Children's Book Fair. In fact, founders of the Illustrators Survival Corner in Italy, Ivan Canu and Giacomo Benelli, were in Shanghai, where I had the pleasure of talking with them.
      The Chinese version of the Book Fair occupied one enormous conference hall space (rather than the several halls that make up the Bologna Book Fair). The space was divided into two sections—the larger section was made up of booths representing various Asian publishers who were there to both represent their houses and their publications, but also to simply sell books to an excited public!



Many attendees arrived with rolling suitcases oftentimes with a built-in seat for their child, because many of the activities of the day were planned around the children. For instance, I loved this print demonstration that I stumbled across.
Beyond a barrier with checkpoints was a completely different experience—this area also had booths representing various publishers from around the world, but was for publishing professionals to make rights deals, attend industry talks (with translator devices available for non-Chinese speakers), or share portfolios. It was also home to the Illustrators Survival Corner, the Masterclass space, Workshop space, and the Official Conference Room (also a space for talks).



Devices were shared for those who didn't speak Chinese to listen in to translators deciphering what was being said. There were also several podcast booths throughout the fair to share the goings on with the larger public. I attended the first day of the Fair on my own and ended up speaking to several budding illustrators, offering on-the-fly portfolio reviews, and handing out brochures. A highlight was having lunch with Tomi Ungerer’s (creator of the classic UK picture book The Three Robbers) daughter Aria, who handles his estate. We got along famously well.To honor Tomi, the Fair hosted a drawing wall for illustrators and children to share to their heart's content.I contributed a reading fairy. However, it was when Yaxi joined me the following two days that we really hit our stride. Yaxi initiated conversations in Chinese with all of those 100 featured illustrators at their individual tables (it took the better part of two days!). The Chinese take their education very seriously and many already had MFAs from prestigious universities from around the world. I was feeling very positive about the interest we were receiving and the reach we achieved.
      What helped the most though, was meeting Ivan and Giacomo and the manager of the Chinese Illustrators Survival Corner. They really opened up the doors for us to share our brochures and information with budding illustrators. In fact, we even discussed the possibility of me giving portfolio reviews in Italy in April! (Fingers crossed!) Meanwhile, Shushu joined us on the third day, along with Zoe, a fellow author of an article for the special edition of The Journal of Children’s Literature in Education on Board Books, edited by Clementine Beauvais (54, pages 376–394 (2023)) that just came out (my article is titled "Board Books are for Babies, or Are They? The Art of Board Books and the Question of Intended Audience"). You can read more about that HERE. China seems to be very much about who you know, and once you're in, you're in like flynn; so by the end of day three, I had lined up several more potential lecturing opportunities if I return to the book fair next year. We'll see if this becomes a repeat visit!
     Thank you to everyone for putting on such a great book fair!
     But wait! There was more!!!

To read about my journey in order, follow these links:
01 - Shanghai!
02 - A Mall and Grocery Store
03 - Custom Dress
04 - The Long Museum
05 - The Quay on the Yangtze?
06 - Old City of Shanghai at Huangpu District
07 - Old Shanghai
08 - Dumplings for lunch!
09 - Yu Garden
10 - Storyland
11 - Hot Pot at Cloud Nice Shopping Mall Changning Branch
12 - The China Shanghai International Children's Book Fair
13 - Art Exhibitions at the China Shanghai International Children's Book Fair
14 - Workshop: Gel Printing
15 - The train to Hangzhou
16 - Speaking at China Jiliang University
17 - Hangzhou - Our personal fall-apart party
18 - The Teahouse Garden in Hangzhou
19 - China wrap-up

Academic Article Announcement!

I'm thrilled to share that my article, Board Books are for Babies, or Are They? The Art of Board Books and the Question of Intended Audience has just been released in the special edition of The Journal of Children's Literature in Education on Baby Books (54, pages 376–394 (2023)), edited by Clementine Beauvais. Here's my abstract:

Within the medium of picturebooks is a category specifically targeted to the very youngest “readers”—board books. They are designed primarily for babies, infants, and toddlers, a preliterate audience from newborn to 3-years-old. And while board books are still technically picturebooks, their design and construction follows a different set of parameters from older picturebooks. The one thing they do share with their older siblings is that they are typically purchased by adults for child “readers,” a paradox that raises complicated questions about the actual intended audience of board books. Furthemore, while board books “help infants learn to recognize familiar objects and to develop basic concepts related to people, animals, possessions, familiar events, and daily routines” (Hughes-Hassell in Inside board books: representations of people of color. The Library Quarterly, The University of Chicago Press Journals, Chicago, 2010), there is a new trend in board books of older books adapted into the board book medium, or for educational, politically driven topics obviously not intended for child readers at all. With sales of board books increasing in recent years (Harbison in Category snapshot: the benefits of the board book boom. Publishers Weekly. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/81736-category-snapshot-the-benefits-of-theboard-book-boom.html, 2019) it leaves one to wonder who are board books really for and what do these “readers” really want from them? This paper examines this new trend and what it says about the medium, from the perspective of a picturebook and board book creator as well as from an academic viewpoint.

Go HERE to see the other excellent articles and read the entire edition.

Hot Pot at Cloud Nice Shopping Mall Changning Branch

Unlike in the USA, the shopping malls in China are going STRONG! And Shushu, who teaches at Normal University, invests in restaurants on the side, as you do!(?) She's pretty amazing! Her first one was a tea house in Glasgow that did very well. Here she is in front of the Cloud Nice Shopping Mall (love this photo!).Her latest investment is a Hot Pot restaurant in the mall. The first time we visited was the night before it officially opened. They were doing a dry run and we got to benefit!If you're not familiar with Hot Pot, there's a cooking eye inset into the middle of a large table where a tasty broth is brought to a boil. As it heats up, waiters bring you all the individual items you order to go into the pot. It ends up being a LOT of food, and Shushu positively spoiled us!We had shrimp.And oysters. (It was almost a shame to cook those gorgeous oysters!)And octopus.You add things to the broth as you're interested in eating them. Here, she's pulling out chrysanthemum leaves (I think that's right).We actually went back a second night and met up with friends from the Book Fair and Shushu's boyfriend and a fellow investor. Here are some of us.Again, we went all out. This meal also included scallops, tripe, mushrooms, and seaweed. It all goes into the pot! But my fave were the dragonfruit/shrimp stars - so yummy! (the pink/purple items in the photos). Shushu ordered extra just for me - so nice! I am a hot pot fan and I think the restaurant is going to be a HIT!

To read about my journey in order, follow these links:
01 - Shanghai!
02 - A Mall and Grocery Store
03 - Custom Dress
04 - The Long Museum
05 - The Quay on the Yangtze?
06 - Old City of Shanghai at Huangpu District
07 - Old Shanghai
08 - Dumplings for lunch!
09 - Yu Garden
10 - Storyland
11 - Hot Pot at Cloud Nice Shopping Mall Changning Branch
12 - The China Shanghai International Children's Book Fair
13 - Art Exhibitions at the China Shanghai International Children's Book Fair
14 - Workshop: Gel Printing
15 - The train to Hangzhou
16 - Speaking at China Jiliang University
17 - Hangzhou - Our personal fall-apart party
18 - The Teahouse Garden in Hangzhou
19 - China wrap-up

Storyland

For this visit, we have to go back two years. My friend from the University of Glasgow, Shushu Li, worked at Storyland and arranged an interview with me when my novel, A Bird on Water Street, came out in Chinese for their Storyland Podcast series with over 20,000 listeners in China.

"We are the first and only platform in China through which readers can directly hear from book creators about their stories. So far we have interviewed over 70 book authors and illustrators about their passions for children’s books."

You can read more about that HERE. Shushu now teaches at Normal University in Shanghai, but she arranged for me to tour Storyland. Storyland has been around since 2014 and has two centers, in Xuhui District, Jingan District, Shanghai: Changshu Center and Hengshan Center. I think we went to the Changshu center location.
      Although they've now interviewed over 70 authors/illustrators, few have been able to stop by in person, so they were thrilled and rolled out the red carpet for me! I thought I'd only get a quick 'hi' over lunch or some such, but instead, I got a grand tour! FABULOUS!
     Here was our journey into Storyland...

Ella Chen (in pink in the photos) was the one who actually interviewed me two years ago, so she was my main tour guide along with the program manager, Vivien _____. (I need to confirm everyone's names!)
     Along with their podcast and library, Storyland is an after school and enrichment program for early readers. This is immediately evident in the displays you see when you enter.




They also have wonderful nooks and crannies and activity areas everywhere.
Of course, I loved seeing all the books!
Because China makes a point of teaching children English alongside Chinese, the library had an English side and a Chinese side. Wish I could have read these wonderful books!What I most loved about their books was how they categorized them - very much the same way we categorize books in our Margaret Wise Brown pop-up library, by theme rather than by author. This was validating to see another library operating this way - and why not? Most children won't be familiar with the names of creators, but they'll know the themes they want to read about!When a child wants to check out a book, they can use the adorable kiosk.Or they can use a provided eReader.As I mentioned, only a few of their featured creators have actually physically been to Storyland, but a few who have left artwork behind. You might recognize one of these.I was happy to be able to add to their collection - they had art supplies waiting for me! They keep the books by their podcast interviewees on display.I was humbled to find my novel featured at one of their displays. (They have mid-grade and YA titles available there as well.)I especially loved seeing how they encourage children to create books themselves.In fact, they have a publication in which they share works by the children they work with, called PONG. Happily, they sent me home with a copy! In fact, they sent me home with all sorts of kind gifts!But I left them with one too - a signed book and more artwork!What a wonderful visit. I so enjoyed learning about all the good that Storyland is doing. They are so full of good ideas and are making a real impact on the lives of the young readers they serve. What an honor to be associated with them in some small way!

To read about my journey in order, follow these links:
01 - Shanghai!
02 - A Mall and Grocery Store
03 - Custom Dress
04 - The Long Museum
05 - The Quay on the Yangtze?
06 - Old City of Shanghai at Huangpu District
07 - Old Shanghai
08 - Dumplings for lunch!
09 - Yu Garden
10 - Storyland
11 - Hot Pot at Cloud Nice Shopping Mall Changning Branch
12 - The China Shanghai International Children's Book Fair
13 - Art Exhibitions at the China Shanghai International Children's Book Fair
14 - Workshop: Gel Printing
15 - The train to Hangzhou
16 - Speaking at China Jiliang University
17 - Hangzhou - Our personal fall-apart party
18 - The Teahouse Garden in Hangzhou
19 - China wrap-up