As the Harry Potter series of novels has gained legions of fans among Chinese children, some questions about their reading habits have arisen. How can domestically produced works attract children's attention? Will Chinese children rely only on foreign works for pleasure? What do children really like to read?

The list of best-selling children's books at the Xi'dan Book Building in Beijing last year showed that seven out of the top 10 were foreign titles, with the Harry Potter series occupying six places.

Young readers say the images in the series are quite vivid and the stories are touching. Parents like to buy the books for their children because they are written from a child's perspective and are useful for widening children's viewpoint, as well as cultivating the qualities of courage, friendliness and independence.

Compared to foreign works, the domestically produced books often appear doctrinaire and dull. Even fairy tales are inclined to set a clear definition of right and wrong, and tell the children directly that they should or should not do something. But the world of children is far more imaginative and complicated than that.

Becoming aware of this, local writers such as Yang Hongying are trying to explore new ways of writing for children. One of Yang's books, The Concentration Camp of Pets, recently ranked No.1 on the list of the top 10 best-selling children's books.

Yang's name might not be as well known as her books among children, but her books, such as A Girl's Dairy, A Boy's Dairy, and the Mischief Ma XiaoTiao, Naughty Boy in Class 3 Grade 5 series, bring a lot of enjoyment to children. After reading Mischief Ma XiaoTiao, one child commented on the Internet, "the cute personality of Ma Xiaoliu quite appeals to me."

In her 25 years as a primary school teacher, children's book editor, mentor of a children's newspaper and chief editor of a children's magazine, Yang has had a lot contact with children, and knows about their living and studying conditions, as well as their ideas. All this has laid a solid foundation for her writing. "I pay much more attention to the feelings of children; I stick to the conviction that I just write for kids," she said.

Yang began her teaching career in 1982. Since the number of children's books was very limited at that time, she tried to write some stories for the students. "During my writing, I came to understand what kinds of stories are most attractive to the children," she said. "I read my stories to them in class. If they were interesting, the children would stare at me, laugh and cry along with the stories; if they were not, they would just look around and pay little attention to me."

It was the direct feedback from the students that helped Yang understand more about the children's needs and make progress in writing stories for them, Now, her books have become bestsellers in China, with a sales volume of 7 million copies.