"In the past, it was not permitted to stock children's books in public libraries, which was one of the reasons why many of these books were lost or failed to survive intact to the present day," said Yu.

Finally, with the help of the Shanghai Library and the Commercial Press Ltd. in Taiwan---one of the successors to the Shanghai-based publishing house--that republished the collection in the 1960s, Yu was able to secure 184 of the original collection's 200 works and to publish them in four volumes.

The Children's Library series uses pictures and simple language to tell stories or convey knowledge about nature and society. For example, it includes one chapter which discusses the issue of how to be a good student.

Once the first volume, consisting of 10 books, was put on sale on the e-commerce platform JD.com in 2011, the initial run of 10,000 copies were sold out within less than a month. Another 10,000 copies were printed afterward.

"The commercial success bolstered our confidence. We continued to search for children's books of that period and have since found more and more good stuff," said Yu.

After the Children's Library series, Yu went on to republish the Primary School Students' Library line, which was also originally published by the Commercial Press in 1934. This collection originally comprised a total of 500 titles in 45 subject areas encompassing social science, politics, economics, fairy tales, mythology, poetry and drama. Yu selected 394 works from 42 areas and compressed them into 164 books.

"I read the collection in my primary school library in the 1930s. I was enamored with the fairy tales, while the books titled Water, Light, and Sound instructed me about basic scientific knowledge. These books have benefited me a lot," said Jiang Feng, an 89-year-old former professor with Zhejiang Normal University and editor of the newly published Primary School Students' Library series.

"Many books written during the period has been republished since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. However, until relatively recently, books tailored to children from the same period have received inadequate attention," said Yu.

Children's books during that period taught kids how to get along with people using principles espoused by Confucianism and how to attain a balanced relationship between humankind and nature.

"Many parents today want their children to read these books in order to learn how to be a good person," said Yu.

"Books written for children during the Republic of China period taught kids morals and ethics and helped them establish a positive value system," said Pu Huaqing, a writer of children's literature. "From this perspective, these books will never be out of date."

Yu pointed out that those who wrote children's books during that period were predominantly renowned writers or scholars, a situation which would be unimaginable today. He cited the example of Feng Zikai (1898-1975), a renowned cartoonist, essayist and translator who drew illustrations for many picture books and textbooks of that period.

"Feng applied the way children think to his paintings and writings. No matter whether he was painting or writing essays, he would ask himself whether he was thinking like a child," Yu told Beijing Review.

Works of value

Yu believes it is vitally important to ensure children's books carry the right messages, as his intended audience is as yet too immature to tell right from wrong. A nihilistic view of life and the questionable conceptions inherent in some works may exert a negative influence upon children, one which could potentially last for the remainder of their lives.

In addition to republishing old books, Dolphin Books has embraced contemporary works such as Taiwan-based illustrator and writer Jimmy Liao's picture books.

"Liao's picture book My Little Perfect World tells children that it's impossible for one to be perfect and normal for a kid to be imperfect. It teaches kids how to face difficulties and defeat in life and be optimistic," said Yu.

Now the author's picture book series has become one of the imprint's flagship lines.

"The key to boosting the development of children's books in China is to cultivate reliable brand identities with regard to both publishing lines and publishing houses and to spread a positive message," said Yu.

Email us at: jijing@bjreview.com

Profile

Yu Xiaoqun was born in Dandong of northeast China's Liaoning Province in September 1956. After graduating from Jilin University with a master's degree in 1982, he joined Liaoning Education Press and later acted as its president and editor in chief. He became president of Dolphin Books in 2009.

In his three-decade-long publishing career, Yu has been responsible for the publication of several book series comprising works by both Chinese and foreign authors of a high intellectual and academic caliber. He has also written over a dozen books himself, most of which have taken the form of essay collections that relate his personal experience and understanding of life and literature.