Pursuing young readers

Publishers ink deals at this year's Bologna Children's Book Fair to sell Chinese titles abroad, Mei Jia reports.

While translating a speech by the Chinese author Gerelchimeg Blackcrane during the 55th Bologna Children's Book Fair in Italy in March, Florence-based Jacopo Lasala choked up with tears, causing many audience members to also understand the emotions the writer was conveying through a story.

Blackcrane, who is from the ethnic Mongolian community in China, told the story So Round, So Red about a mother bear looking for a special fruit that would save her cub.

The story is about aging and the relationship between parents and children, and about death.

"It just touched a very deep part of me. I was trying to smile at the audience while struggling to swallow my tears," Lasala, founder of the startup Synvision, tells China Daily.

This year's book fair held from March 26 to 29 saw the largest-ever presentation of children's publishers, writers and illustrators from China at a global book fair. The Chinese delegation of 300 hosted book launches and talks, and exhibited 4,000 books at the fair, where China was the main guest country.