VietNamNet Bridge – Summer time, when children have more time to relax, is when many parents think about how to raise their children's cultural life. Reading books is a common choice, but it is not easy to find the valuable books that fit in with their child's mental make-up.

At bookshops today, there are hundreds of books for children, including comics, long stories, short stories, domestic and foreign books. All have beautiful covers, but their contents can be questionable.

Tran Thuy Nga, a mother of two in Hai Ba Trung District, says she is annoyed with many children's books. "Recently I bought Than Thoai Hy Lap (Greek Mythology) and Nghin Le Mot Dem (The Thousand and One Nights), but they were not the original versions. They were very ‘dry' like a precis. I was really disappointed. Good quality literature books that hold readers' attention from beginning to end are now very rare," she says.

Another mother, Huyen Linh, bought many books for her daughter to help her be able to write better. But, after examining the books again, she decided not to allow her daughter to read them herself. Instead, she read the books to the girl, because she said they had too many spelling mistakes and sometimes included 'dirty' slang words.

"I don't understand why they can make such books for children," Linh says.

But, in fact, to simplify book contents, many publishing houses now, instead of publishing an original literary work for children in its entirety, edit and even rewrite the books following their own style.

"Many publishers don't like publishing literature, they have turned to comic books for quick turnover," says Mai Anh, a mother in Xa Dan Street of Ha Noi. There are some comic books with quality contents, but most cannot be called literature and the illustration are sometimes too violent.

Of course, many publishers turn to comic books to meet children's demand, because most of them love comics.

Hoang Gia Bao, aged eight, from Ha Noi, says: "I love comics because they have lively images and their texts are easy to understand."

His parents recently gave him a book, The Invisible Man, but Bao struggled for a long time before finishing it. In the meantime, he spent time watching cartoons and animated films.

"Reading these comic books has really turned my son's literature to be curt and dry. I am really worried and I have to find the children's books in old times for him to read, with a hope that he would make more progress in literature," says Van Anh, another mother.

Nguyen Thanh Minh from Dong Da District says if he let his son choose books himself, the boy would choose comics.

"I recognise that the texts in comics are cut to the maximal. Children read them for entertainment only. They can't find any education significance from those books, so I limit my son from reading comics."

Many parents choose to select books for their children. Nguyen Thu Ha in Giang Vo Street says she choose famous literary books like Treasure Island, Diary of a Cricket and The World's Cultural Celebrities for her children to read.

"Normally my children do not like these books because they lack pictures. My solution is to read books with them and help them analyse good ideas from each sentence," she says.

The problem of children steering clear of valuable literary works happens not only in Viet Nam. According to a survey by the National Literacy Trust, one among six children in Britain prefer to spend time on writing e-mails and having access to social networks like Facebook, rather than read books.

The Trust surveyed 18,000 children of school age and found that less than half read a book each month. One out of six children said they rarely read books at home, and one out of eight said they had never been to a bookshop.

Deputy director of Kim Dong Publishing House Nguyen Huy Thang says he works hard to attract readers, especially children, by finding and publishing interesting books.

"In addition to choosing and editing foreign books to fit with Viet Nam's culture. More importantly, along with serving children's entertainment demands, we need to educate them about traditions and dignity, and help raise their knowledge and civil responsibilities."

Tran Thuy Nga, the mother with two children, says that asking children to read books was the way to improve their lives and help them have more opportunities and desires.

Source: VNS