Kid's books boom

Over recent years the surge in electronic book sales has taken the wind out of many Chinese publishers, but there is one category of book which is still thriving - children's books.

Over the course of the three-day 27th Beijing Book Fair, which concluded on January 11, a large area was given to the exhibition of children books, with tens of thousands on display.

During the exhibition a new annual children's literature prize was launched. The Golden Sunflower Children's Novel prize sponsored by China Publishing Group Corporation rewards writers with a first prize of 200,000 yuan ($33,100), the largest reward for children's literature in China.

Massive market

Sales figures also underline the growth of this market. According to statistics from the Beijing Open Book Co., Ltd, which specializes in book industry research, in 2012 children's book sales increased by 4.71 percent, despite the overall 1.05 percent decline in the domestic market.

The 10 years between 2003 and 2012 are often described as a golden decade for children's book market in China, with sales witnessing an annual double-digit growth.

In 2005, the sales of children books on dangdang.com, the largest online Chinese bookstore, amounted to only 10 million yuan, but by 2012 this figure had jumped to 1.5 billion yuan.

With more than 367 million potential readers, the huge number of children in China is fueling the growth. "Children's books have a steadier reader group, especially for preschool children," said Lü Weizhen, president of the general editorial department under China Children's Press & Publication Group (CCPPG), a leading children's book publisher.

"Preschool children have more reading time and their parents are more willing to buy books for them. Also books for this age group are less affected by electronic books," Lü told the Global Times. "Over the coming years children's books will maintain their leading position in the Chinese book market," Lü added.

Meanwhile, the increasing integration with the overseas children's publishing industry has also greatly enriched the domestic market. Each year when the winners of internationally renowned children's literature prizes such as the Newbery Medal and the Hans Christian Andersen Award are announced, the foreign books are translated and introduced to Chinese readers.

Last year in June when the Black Dog by British writer Levi Pinfold won the famous Kate Greenaway award, its Chinese version was published in almost the same month by Jieli Publishing House, a professional children's book publisher.

Fewer foreign titles

For many years foreign book titles took a large chunk of the children's book market. The Little Hens Series by French writer Christian Jolibois sold more than 5 million copies in China in 2012, and the American popular science book Magic School Bus sold 3 million copies in the same year.

But now it seems that the desire for foreign children's books in China is cooling. Their sales share declined in 2013 compared to domestic titles, according to Jiang Yanping, vice general manager of Openbook. "Among the top 100 most popular children's books in China in 2013, 89 were domestic titles, the highest proportion in comparison with previous years," said Jiang.

Besides familiar names like Mr. Know All and Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf, other original books such as Charlie IX, Moore Park and A Cat's Dairy are all popular among children.

"The sales of foreign children's books are now mainly concentrated in comics and picture books, as well as popular science," said Lü. "They are more innovative and high quality in this regard."

More and more young parents are also a big supporting factor in the sale of foreign books. "Those post-80s (born after the 1980s) parents are more open minded in which books to choose for their children. Many of them don't hesitate to spend more money on foreign titles," said Lü.

But overall, the proportion of foreign children's books is in decline, Lü stressed, for CCPPG, the figure is below 20 percent.

Low bar to be raised

Despite the increasing sales of domestic children's books, the limited number of famous titles is still embarrassing considering there are more than 500 children's book publishers in China.

"For now the government hasn't set any requirements on the publishing of children's books, any publishing house in the country can publish a children's book," said Tan Xudong, a renowned publisher. This low entry threshold has led to a ballooning number of children's books in China. Among the country's 581 publishers, 523 are now publishing children books.

The fast expansion of the market has caused some negative effects, such as low quality books, infringement of copyrights and unreasonably high prices.

Last August the latest version of Mr. Know All, which was branded as being edited by China's top scientists, was released costing 980 yuan, beyond the means of most Chinese parents.

The poor quality of some domestic children's books is another headache which troubles parents. "It seems the contents of some books don't match the age of my children," said Lin Gui, a mother of a 5-year-old boy who works for a family education magazine. "When kids are 2 to 3 years old, the contents of most children's books are too mature for them, but when they grow up to around the age of 6-year-old, the books are just too easy for them," she said.

Although nowadays there is a growing number of children's book writers such as Cao Wenxuan, Zheng Yuanjie and Yang Hongying, there are still few influential works, according to Gu Lili, a book critic. The low bar for publishers means the market is flooded with low-quality children's books. "Among the over 500 institutions, the most problematic are the unprofessional children's book publishing companies," said Lü. "Harmful contents like violence and pornography mostly come from their books."

To sustain the prosperity and future of the children's market in China, it seems that it's time to raise the entry bar.