Plants vs Zombies reaps rich dividends for children

The Plants vs Zombies children's series, including illustrated storybooks, audio books and 3D paper puzzles, is popular among young readers. Mei Jia / China Daily

The best-selling storybooks are a winning combination of American images and Chinese originality.

A series of Chinese storybooks adapted from the iconic game has taken the children's publishing world by storm, Mei Jia reports.

PopCap's star game Plants vs Zombies has been turned into a series of Chinese storybooks that have reaped more than 100 million yuan ($16 million). Further PvsZ inspired publications, including magazines and novels, are in the works, says publisher China Children's Press and Publication Group.

"The success is a classic example of children's publishing," says Bai Bing, the chief editor of Jieli Publishing House.

Bai adds that of the total 6 to 7 billion yuan ($963 million to 1.1 billion) in annual sales (by fixed price) of children's books from 578 children's presses in the country, the sales of PvsZ are stellar.

Launched in January 2012, the series comprises illustrated storybooks, audio books and 3D paper puzzles, and 2 million copies were sold in the first two months. In August 2012, sales reached 5 million.

Following the release earlier this month of a new version of the US company's game, based on The Journey to the West, China Children's Press and Publication Group President Li Xueqian expects a total of 8 million sales to be realized soon.

"Many parents are grateful our books have dragged children back to reading, rather than playing games on screens," Li says. "We plan to extend the series further with interesting but also educational books."

Veteran children's writers, with an average age of 60, were encouraged to play the game and create characters from it, as the original had no storyline.

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