According to the Authority of Publication, Printing and Distribution, works for children in 2022 accounted for 13 percent of total published books. The figure was higher than publications in other categories such as politics, laws, science and technology, economics, and literature. 

Meanwhile, according to the HCM City Book Street, in 2022, the revenue from books for children reached VND10 billion, a sharp increase of 236 percent compared with 2021.

Experts say that in the children’s literature book market segment, there are not many new authors or many interesting works that touch the hearts of children. The other noteworthy characteristic of the children’s literature segment is that translated books are dominating the market.

Thieu, who is chair of the Vietnam Writers’ Association, said works by domestic writers remain unattractive to children. 

Vietnam once had famous writers who wrote many interesting works for children, including Thach Lam, To Hoai, Vo Quang, Nguyen Dinh Thi, Doan Gioi and Pham Ho, a former chair of the Children's Literature Council of the Vietnam Writers’ Association, Vu Tu Nam, Xuan Quynh, Nguyen Nhat Anh and Tran Dang Khoa. 

They created a wonderful world for children, a world of compassion and beautiful dreams.

Other authors have good-selling books such as Le Quang Trang with ‘Ca Linh di hoc’ (Linh fish goes to school), Phat Duong with ‘100 cua so’ (100 windows) and Nguyen Huong with ‘Nhung chuyen tau di’ (The departures).  Very young authors can also attract readers of the same ages, such as Cao Khai An, Cao Viet Quynh and Hanh Phuong.

Children's literature is an indispensable part of the flow of Vietnamese literature. Many education and psychology experts encourage parents to familiarize their children with the habit of reading books.

However, according to Nguyen Thuy Anh, an education expert, the number of works is too small compared with readers’ demand.

“We still cannot connect authors writing for children with each other. The literary line has not been paid appropriate attention to. We just consider it a sideline of the literary scene for adults,” Anh said.

Ngo Van Gia, a literary critic, commented that people chase after high IQs and try to teach their children lessons about sciences, but they forget that the EQ index is also important for the life of each person.

“What will happen if children lack compassion for people and love for creatures?” he said.

Tinh Le