| Inaugural Feng Zikai Grand Prize Award Winner Selected as One of 10 Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2011 by The New York Times Book Review |
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(Hong Kong, 4 November, 2011) Winner of the Feng Zikai Chinese Children's Picture Book Award ["FZK Award" in short], A New Year's Reunion, written by YU Li Qiong and illustrated by ZHU Cheng Liang, has been selected from several hundred children's books, as one of only 10 Best Illustrated Children's Books by The New York Times Book Review 2011. This is the first time that a Chinese children's picture book has been selected as one of the Best Illustrated Children's Books by the New York Times Review.
Established in 2008, the first FZK Award announced its winners in 2009 and a touring exhibition, conference and various activities were held in 2010 to promote the award and the importance of quality children's picture books. A New Year's Reunion was the winner of the "Best Chinese Children's Picture Book Award" and was recommended by the FZK Award Executive Committee during the second Chinese Children's Picture Book Forum (Shanghai) in August 2010 to Ms. Deirdre McDermott, who is both a publisher at Walker Books and an experienced picture book editor. It was after Mr. ZHU Cheng Liang, illustrator of A New Year's Reunion, likened the creative journey of making a picture book to filming a movie that Ms. McDermott's interest in acquiring the book's license in English was sparked. In December 2010, the English publication rights to the book were officially licensed to Walker Books and the English version of A New Year's Reunion will be published by the end of 2011. Soon enough, non-Chinese speaking families will be able to enjoy this story about the special bond between a father and his daughter, set during the festive season of Chinese New Year.
Mr. James Chen, a member of the FZK Award Executive Committee, was thrilled and warmly congratulated Walker Books, illustrator Mr. ZHU Cheng Liang, author Ms. YU Li Qiong and Hsin Yi Publications, Tomorrow Publishing House and Nanjing Hsin Yi Children's Cultural Development Ltd. Speaking on behalf of the FZK Award Executive Committee, Mr. Chen stated that "The FZK Award is dedicated to raising the competitiveness of Chinese children's picture books in the hope that Chinese books can exert greater influence in the market for children's picture books. The English version of A New Year's Reunion is yet to be published but has already been selected as one of the Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2011 by the New York Times Book Review. This honor affirms the independence and credibility of the judging process of the FZK Award. We strive to uphold the highest standards of integrity and independence in order for the FZK Award to become synonymous with other prestigious international literary awards, such as The Caldecott Medal and the Kate Greenaway Medal."
Miss McDermott also wrote a letter expressing gratitude to FZK Award Executive Committee and The Chen Yet-Sen Family Foundation for inviting her to attend the 2010 forum in Shanghai, thereby introducing her to Mr. Zhu and A New Year's Reunion. She also recognized that the FZK Award has successfully promoted cultural exchange across the Taiwan Strait and facilitated the copyright trading of award-winning Chinese books globally. Meanwhile, the author and illustrator both gave special credit to the FZK Award for bringing their story to the international stage.
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About the New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2011Annually since 1952, the New York Times Book Review has asked a panel of judges to select 10 winners from among the several thousand children's books published during the year.
To know more details: The Book Review's 10 Best Illustrated Children's Books for 2011 Best Illustrated Books of 2011-Slide show http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2011/11/09/
About the Feng Zikai Chinese Children's Picture Book AwardCommissioned by the Chen Yet-Sen Family Foundation in 2008, registered charity Bring Me A Book Hong Kong launched the independent Feng Zikai award to promote the production and distribution of quality Chinese children's picture books.
The Feng Zikai Chinese Children's Picture Book Award is the first international Chinese children's picture book award with the highest cash prize. The Award is a biennial award to gather quality Chinese children's picture books of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan which becomes the focus of all. The Award not only can promote the positive influence of the creative standard but also help readers easily access to quality Chinese children's picture books and choose from.
The Chen Yet-Sen Family Foundation is a Hong Kong based grant-making institution established in 2003, with a strategic focus on improving early childhood literacy through the development of libraries and reading programs. To date, the Foundation has helped support the construction of libraries and reading programs for children in high-need areas of Mainland China, Hong Kong, and West Africa.
In the course of promoting children's reading and literacy through the establishment of Bring Me A Book Hong Kong, the Chen Yet-Sen Family Foundation found a distinct lack of original illustrated children's book in Chinese, with the market disproportionately dominated by translated work. In July 2008, the Foundation co-sponsored a conference, "The First International Feng Zikai Forum on Children's Picture Books," to discuss these issues. Co-sponsored by Bring Me a Book Hong Kong and the support of Mrs. Daisy Chen, the Feng Zikai Award was established to promote the creation of Chinese-language children's literature, and recognize the most excellent writers, authors, and publishers of Chinese children's picture books.
The first award ceremony was held on 22 July 2009 in Hong Kong and the second award was just announced in August in Beijing. The award committee purchased 3,000 copies of the top award winner to donate to libraries, schools, and educational institutions. Please visit www.fengzikaibookaward.org for details of all the award winning books or call (852) 3167 4169 for enquires.
About Bring Me A Book™ Hong KongBring Me A Book™ Hong Kong (BMABHK) is a non-profit organization that was founded in 2006 to serve children who do not have access to quality books and who are not read aloud to on a regular basis. We promote family literacy by providing libraries of quality, hardback children's books and read aloud training to children and families. Through innovative library and training programs, BMABHK reaches underserved children and families in nurseries, kindergartens, community centres, shelters, health clinics, and in workplace.
A New Year's ReunionAuthor: Yu Li QiongIllustrator: Zhu Cheng Liang Publisher: Hsin Yi Publications & Tomorrow Publishing House Date of Publication: January 2008 Age range: 3-8 years
Little Maomao's father works far away from the family home, so his return for New Year is a cause for celebration. Maomao and her mother welcome him back and together they enjoy the firecrackers and make sticky rice balls – in one of which Maomao finds the lucky fortune coin. But after watching the dragon dance and playing snowballs, Maomao discovers disaster has struck ... where is the lucky coin? At first inconsolable to have lost it, Maomao is finally restored to happiness before her father must depart again.
The traditional Chinese and simplified Chinese versions of A New Year's Union has had five reprints and sold over thirty thousand copies over the past two years in Taiwan and mainland China.
About the authorYu Li Qiong was born in China's Anhui Province in 1980. A member of the Chinese Institute of Prose, she has published more than a hundred thousand words of writing in prose and novels since 1996. She lives in Nanjing.
About the illustratorBorn in Shanghai in 1948, Zhu Cheng Liang is Deputy Chief Editor at the Jiangsu Fine Arts Publishing House. His previous works include the comic strip Catching the Thief (1983), based on Erich Kästner's Emil and the Detectives, and Flashing Rabbit-shaped Lamp (1984), which won an Honourable Mention by UNESCO's Noma Concours for Children's Picture Book Illustration. He lives in Nanjing.
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