Writers pen tales for young fans

"The English version," Jin Bo says," has somehow fulfilled me too. It enables me to communicate wholeheartedly with my foreign readers, and gives me the impetus to step into a new phase of writing. And it testifies, to me, that belief in love transcends cultural differences."

Like Jin Bo, all other authors selected for the series are established, influential writers of children's books, including Gao Hongbo, Yang Hongying and Xue Tao.

Hu Xiaokai, director of the publisher's department of Chinese books for international readers, says that the chosen representative works are told from an international perspective, or are about shared worldviews. For example, Dad in My Pocket, a hilarious fantasy told by a boy, Yang Ge, about his trips and triumphs with his father, a tiny man, according to the publisher's editors, "advocates persistence, responsibility and optimism, making it thought-provoking while entertaining".

The book's author Yang Peng, 48, believes fantasy stories and game-like experiences in reading are key to helping explore young people's imagination. Yang has worked with Disney China and published a series of stories whereby Mickey Mouse and his friends use kung fu to fight with the evil Black Bat King as they are whisked back to ancient China.