For the Third Feng Zikai Chinese Children's Picture Book Award, 227 eligible entries were received: 73 from China, 9 from Hong Kong, 140 from Taiwan, and 5 from Malaysia. The preliminary judging took six days to short-list 27 books: 5 from China, 1 from Hong Kong, and 21 from Taiwan. After a five-day final judging period, the Best Award and four Outstanding Awards were selected.
The judging process took considerable time and effort, and ensured that every judge had plenty of time to read and discuss each entry. The judging panel comprised five judges on the preliminary panel, and seven judges on the final panel. Judges came from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and the United States. The panel was assembled to represent a wide range of expertise, including children's literature, children's development and education, art, picture book creation, literary criticism, picture book editing, teaching, reading promotion, and so on. This diversity in the team helped judges complement and cooperate with each other. With such breadth of experience and knowledge, books varying in styles, topics, and perspectives could be fully considered and discussed under a professional, fair, and rigorous judging process, and judges could make decisions based on heated debate, clear communication, and discussion of various opinions. It should be emphasized that the judging process and results were based solely on the books themselves, with no consideration given to distribution of regions or personal reasons. This year the award-winning entries came from Taiwan; full credit and honor should be paid to the individual artists, writers, and publishers. We believe that only through objective and professional judging can we reach the goal of encouraging outstanding creators and improving Chinese picture books.
During the preliminary judging session, we found that there were some less refined pieces of work among the submissions, which appeared to be in picture book format, but, in fact, ignored the essence of literature and art. Some of these picture books seemed to be intended for use as didactic tools. Although their themes included the significance of education, these books were expressed by rough or formalized methods. As for the 27 entries selected for the shortlist, they successfully balanced theme, type and art style: some full of playful fun and imagination, for example, Mice at home? and Fireworks; some displayed skilled techniques and delicate images, such as The Mynah Like Clouds, The Song of an Old Tree, and Our Forest; some were unique in their use of text, like The Journey of Tomatoes and Shadows; some broadened the vision of particular issues, for instance, Apples Are Sweet, The World of My Brother, Paradise on No Man Land.
Picture books are a kind of integrated art. As well as emphasis on the quality of written text and illustrations, we should also be precise about the visual language, the interplay between written text and illustrations, the rhythm and coherence of the plot, the child's perspective and needs. All of these elements are indispensable. After careful dissection and diligent discussion, the judges found that the enjoyable works mentioned above regrettably lacked comprehensiveness. We suggest that picture book creators consider more carefully the importance of editing as part of the picture book making process, how to make written text and illustrations reach their best on the page, and advance the completion of the book.
The Best Award this year was a time and effort-consuming informational picture book, displaying a solid pictorial narrative skill that makes it easy for readers to understand complicated information in a simple way. Impressively, the book simultaneously shows knowledge, creativity, and a sense of aesthetic from a child's perspective.
This was the first time we received submissions from Malaysia, and also the first time a title from Hong Kong was shortlisted. Thus, we optimistically hope that the award will continue to encourage Chinese picture book development and to improve the quality of picture book creation. We hope that the Feng Zikai Chinese Children's Picture Book Award will continue to be influential and bring warm support and comfort to those who devote themselves to picture books.
