Cao Wenxuan

Cao Wenxuan is a professor of Chinese at Beijing University, Associate Director of the Children's Literature Committe of the Chinese Writer's Association, and a bestselling author of children's literature. He has won many academic and literary awards include the Hans Christian Anderson Award, Song Qingling Literature Award, the Bing Xin Literature Award, and the National Book Award (China).

Cao’s main themes are morality, the appreciation of beauty and compassion. Cao has noted: “My own childhood was filled with miseries and memories of hunger, so I hope to provide young readers an understanding of how to treat miseries,” says Cao. “Many hardships the country has gone through are where its power and fortune lie. Smart writers should know how to utilize the resources.”

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Profile and Market Estimation Cao Wenxuan was born in Yancheng, in East China’s Province. He graduated from the department of Chinese Language and Literature of in 1977 and was elected to teach in the university. He began writing in 19831.

Cao Wenxuan is one of most influential children's literature writers in China. He has written more than 60 works, more than 40 of which have received a number of awards and recognitions, many of which have been translated into English, German, French, Russian, Swedish, Spanish, Japanese, Korean and other languages2. In recent years, he began to create picture books for Chinese children. His picture book copyright exported to France, Japan, Sweden, South Korea, Brazil, Denmark and other countries, twice won the China General Administration of Press and Publication Outstanding Books Award for export titles3. Besides, Cao’s prize winning work The Grass House (草房子) (directed by Xu Geng) has been adapted for film in 2000.

The Grass House (草房子) by Cao Wenxuan

1曹文轩,Baidu Baike,2019 https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E6%9B%B9%E6%96%87%E8%BD%A9/19045?fr=aladdin 2曹文轩,Baidu Baike,2019 https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E6%9B%B9%E6%96%87%E8%BD%A9/19045?fr=aladdin 3 OpenBook data about author Cao Wenxuan, OpenBook, 2019 https://www.openbookscan.com.cn/ 2 / 14

Bronze and Sunflower by Cao Wenxuan

Based on OpenBook market projection4, Cao Wenxuan’s books has sold for more than 60 million copies as of December 2019. Most popular titles such as The Grass House and Bronze and Sunflower have collectively sold millions of copies in China. As of 2019, Bronze and Sunflower has sold for more than 9 million copies in China, while The Grass House has sold for about 18million copies.

In 2019, Cao Wenxuan sold more than 14 million copies by market projection of China’s book retail market. According to the 2019 annual report, Cao Wenxuan had a total market share of 1.03% of all children’s books sold in China’s retail market.

Resources and Links 曹文轩——中国的童话该往何处去 ,于和彦, 2019/5/1 https://www.jianshu.com/p/8a9f8b31d15d

The Hans Christian Andersen Award, IBBY, 2016 http://www.ibby.org/news-calendar/media-releases/hcaa-2016-winners/

Cao Wenxuan claims Hans Christian Andersen Prize, china.org.cn, 2016/8/21 http://www.china.org.cn/arts/2016-08/21/content_39134881.htm

Acceptance speech given by Cao Wenxuan, IBBY, 2016/8/20 http://www.ibby.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Caowenxuan__speech_2016.pdf

OpenBook data about author Cao Wenxuan, OpenBook , 2019

4 OpenBook data about author Cao Wenxuan, OpenBook, 2019 https://www.openbookscan.com.cn/ 3 / 14 https://www.openbookscan.com.cn/

曹文轩, Baidu Baike, 2019 https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E6%9B%B9%E6%96%87%E8%BD%A9/19045?fr=al addin

Cao Wenxuan, Wikipedia, 2019 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cao_Wenxuan

Media Report 曹文轩：写属于中国的童话故事, QianLong, 2018/11/9 http://www.qida100.com/xiao/xsc/20181109/11873.html

曹文轩:写属于中国的童话故事 , China Youth Online, 2016/7/13 http://zqb.cyol.com/html/2016-07/13/nw.D110000zgqnb_20160713_8-05.htm

Chinese Literature and a New Authenticity on the World Stage, Dennis Abrams, 24-Oct-16 https://publishingperspectives.com/2016/10/chinese-literature-authenticity/

Translator Helen Wang Honored at Shanghai Children’s Book Fair, Porter Anderson, 21-Nov-17 https://publishingperspectives.com/2017/11/translator-helen-wang-special-contributor -in-chen-bochui-awards/

China’s Tomorrow Publishing House Signs New Copyright Contracts at the Bologna Book Fair, China Publishers Magazine, 27-Mar-18 https://publishingperspectives.com/2018/03/chinas-tomorrow-publishing-house-signs- new-copyright-contracts-at-the-bologna-book-fair/

At Bologna: Winners Named in the Hans Christian Andersen and Asahi Awards, Dennis Abrams, 5-Apr-16 https://publishingperspectives.com/2016/04/winners-hans-christian-andersen-asahi-r eading/

Phoenix Publishing Presents the Publishing Journey of ‘Bronze and Sunflower’ by Cao Wenxuan, China Publishers Magazine, 26-Mar-18 https://publishingperspectives.com/2018/03/phoenix-publishing-bronze-and-sunflowe r-by-cao-wenxuan/

Macmillan Buys US Rights to Cao Wenxuan’s Latest Book from 21st Century Publishing Group, China Publishers Magazine, 27-Mar-18 https://publishingperspectives.com/2018/03/macmillan-buys-us-translation-rights-to-c ao-wenxuan-book-summer/

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Little Sugarcoating in Cao Wenxuan’s Children’s Books, Amy Qin, 1-May-16 https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/arts/international/profile-cao-wenxuan-hans-chri stian-andersen-award-winner.html

Bologna 2108: A Talk with Cao Wenxuan, Publishers Weekly, 5-Apr-18 https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/artic le/76523-bologna-2018-a-talk-with-cao-wenxuan.html

Cao Wenxuan at Library of Congress Authorities, with 21 catalogue records, Library of Congress Authorities https://lccn.loc.gov/n87887007

Cao Wenxuan: Chinese author wins top children's literature prize, BBC, 5-Apr-16 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-35965873

On being awarded the 2016 Hans Christian Anderson Award. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26VbpjYbsfg

New Release  In December 2019, Cao Wenxuan’s picture books for Chinese children have been published5;  The Writers Publishing House published Cao Wenxuan’s novel series Pika Brothers with 14 titles in November 20196;  The Chinese publisher Phoenix Juvenile and Children's Publishing promoted the work at the 23rd Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF) on Aug 257. Glass Eyed Beads written by Cao Wenxuan takes the growth of Ah Mei, the granddaughter of Olsarny, as the main story line and outlines the caring and touching scenes of the family supporting each other in the special days from the perspective of the child against the backdrop of the dramatic social changes during the 1960s and 1970s .

5 OpenBook data about author Cao Wenxuan, OpenBook, 2019 https://www.openbookscan.com.cn/ 6 OpenBook data about author Cao Wenxuan, OpenBook, 2019 https://www.openbookscan.com.cn/ 7 Phoenix Media promotes Cao Wenxuan's latest novel at BIBF, 2016, Phoenix Publishing & Media Group, http://en.ppm.cn/content/2016-09/05/c_46158.htm 5 / 14

Awards and Recognition Cao Wenxuan’s received the Hans Christian Andersen Author Award in 2016 from the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY). This is widely considered to be the children’s Nobel8.

IBBY commented that Cao “writes beautifully about the complex lives of children facing great challenges. He is a deeply committed writer, whose own difficult childhood has been deeply influential on his writing in which there are no easy answers.9”

His acceptance speech was titled “Literature: Another Form of Housebuilding” 《文学： 另一种造屋》10. His writing philosophy is to create a sanctuary with his writing for not only himself but also for children11.

Please also refer to Presentation of Hans Christian Andersen Award 2016: Acceptance speech given by Cao Wenxuan, IBBY, 2016/8/20 http://www.ibby.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Caowenxuan__speech_2016.pdf

Besides, Cao Wenxuan has received a number of prizes and awards for his works12: • Goats Do Not Eat Heaven Grass (山羊不吃天堂草) – 3rd Song Qingling Literature Prize, National Five Top Project Award; • The Grass House (草房子) – Bingxin Literature Prize, 4th National Book Award, National Five Top Project Award, 5th Song Qingling Literature Prize, 19th Golden Rooster Award for Best Writing (1999), Huabiao Award (1998), 14th Tehran International Film Festival - the Golden Butterfly Prize; • Bronze and Sunflower (青铜葵花) – Bingxin Literature Prize, National Book Award, National Five Top Project Award. The English translation was a 2017 Kirkus Finalist, a New York Times Notable Children's Book of 2017, and has been nominated for YALSA's Best Fiction for Young Adults award, Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature - Best Books of 2017. Helen Wang's English translation of Bronze and Sunflower earned her the 2017 Marsh Award for Children's Literature in Translation.); • Dingding and Dangdang (丁丁当当) – selected as one of the 2015 IBBY Outstanding Books for Young People with

8 The Hans Christian Andersen Award, IBBY, 2016 http://www.ibby.org/news-calendar/media-releases/hcaa-2016-winners/ 9 The Hans Christian Andersen Award, IBBY, 2016 http://www.ibby.org/news-calendar/media-releases/hcaa-2016-winners/ 10 Acceptance speech given by Cao Wenxuan, IBBY, 2016/8/20 http://www.ibby.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Caowenxuan__speech_2016.pdf 11 Cao Wenxuan claims Hans Christian Andersen Prize, china.org.cn, 2016/8/21 http://www.china.org.cn/arts/2016-08/21/content_39134881.htm 12 Cao Wenxuan, Wikipedia, 2019 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cao_Wenxuan 6 / 14

Disabilities;

Book Review He has a unique writing style with "aestheticism" and "poetry" as stylistic characteristics 13 . IBBY has described his prize winning works in the following statements:

“In Bronze and Sunflower, a novel set during the time of the Cultural Revolution in a rural Chinese village close to a re-education center for people sent from the city, a village boy who does not speak and a little city girl who ends up coming to live with his family can be said to “save” each other. These children are entirely convincing and we care deeply about their fate.

In Cao’s Dingding Dangdang series we are captivated and moved by two brothers with Down syndrome who separately flee their village and then search for each other through a world that is alternately loving and rejecting. These books take risks and have a great deal at stake.

Cao Wenxuan’s books don’t lie about the human condition; they acknowledge that life can often be tragic and that children can suffer. At the same time, they can love and be redeemed by their human qualities and the kindness they sometimes find when they are most in need. Cao’s writing about the natural world is lyrical and beautiful. And Cao is a great example of how writing wonderful prose and telling stories about brave children facing tremendous difficulties and challenges can attract a very wide and committed child readership as well as helping to shape a literary tradition in China that honors the realities of children’s worlds. Recently Cao Wenxuan’s books have been making their way into the world and have found enthusiastic readers in England, France, Germany, Italy, and Korea. The rest of the world’s children are waiting to discover him, too.”

13曹文轩,Baidu Baike,2019 https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E6%9B%B9%E6%96%87%E8%BD%A9/19045?fr=aladdin 7 / 14

Main Titles by Cao Wenxuan: Recommend to Preteen to Young Adult: Ages 9+. For more titles, please find the title list.

1. 《青铜葵花》Bronze and Sunflower Publication Date: April 2005 This is the story of a boy and a girl. The boy is called Bronze and the girl is called Sunflower. With a special opportunity, urban girl Sunflower and country boys Bronze become close friends. They live together, grow up together. At the age of 12, Sunflower returned to her city. Boy Bronze looks forward to meet Sunflower again. The novel describes the suffering - the great suffering, to the deep analysis; the work is also about beauty, love full of vitality.

2. 《山羊不吃天堂草》Goats Do Not Eat Heaven Grass Publication Date: March 2005 This is a vivid and easy-to-read and intriguing novel. A group of hungry sheep, in the face of a noble and attractive "paradise grass" but refused to bow their heads. A few days later, they die. Because of the pressure of life, the protagonist of the novel has to leave home and follow the teacher to the outside world to make a living, but they never seem to be able to enter that world.

3. 《草房子》The Straw Hut/The Grass House Publication Date: March 2005 Grass House is a full-length novel for young readers unfolding around the protagonist Sangsang and mainly describing his six-year primary school life. For Sangsang, the life in primary school is quite unforgettable, for he witnesses many tear-drawing things and even gets involved in many, such as the friendship of the teenagers, the tempering of hardships, experiencing the beauty of life in death, comprehending the true meaning of life, etc. 4. 《根鸟》The Bird Publication Date: March 2005 A young girl went to the cliff to collect flowers and fell into the gorge. She appeared in the dream of a teenager called Bird. Bird set out to find their own dream. Crossing deserts, grasslands, mountains, villages, canyons, small towns, one scene after another. Bird grows up between reality and fantasy. He decided to make dream as his horse to get through his upbringing. This is a fascinating novel, which lets you walk in the dream, and also experience true life.

5. 《细米》The Thin Rice Publication Date: January 2006 Junior Thin Rice is an unruly country boy. He and his cousin grew up together. The day flowed naturally like water. However, one day, the river floated a huge white sail, with a group of girls as if from the heavenly kingdom. These women from Suzhou City brought a fresh and charming atmosphere. One of them called Mei Wen has extraordinary and charming spiritual strength, leading the young Thin Rice into a new growth process.

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6. 《蜻蜓眼》Glass Eye Beads Publication Date: July 2016 Glass Eyed Beads written by Cao Wenxuan takes the growth of Ah Mei, the granddaughter of Olsarny, as the main story line and outlines the caring and touching scenes of the family supporting each other in the special days from the perspective of the child against the backdrop of the dramatic social changes during the 1960s and 1970s . 7. 《狗牙雨》Gouyayu Publication Date: March 2008 The book describes the fate of a person or several people from childhood to youth, to old age across several eras of vicissitudes of a country. The stories are connected by more than a dozen rainy scenes. The beauty of life in the rain, the nakedness of human nature in the rain, the natural subtlety in the rain, the magnificent heaven in the rain, the rain is not only the space-time background of the novel, but also the opportunity for the transformation of fate.

8. 《马戏团》Circus Publication Date: August 2010 Circus contains 15 short stories in the long-form masterpieces, a combination of a variety of writing styles and writing themes, constitute a rich and pure beauty. This is an elegant and stiff symphony.

9. 《单行街》One-way street Publication Date: August 2014 In this book, there are eleven classic stories, each with an unforgettable image. They bear the burden of their own growth, and in a step-by-step growth, they achieve their great progress.

10. 《我们的麦场主》Our wheat farmer Publication Date: January 2010 This book contains a large number of comments about Cao Wenxuan's works, some from the senior critics, some are from young readers. This is a rich and lively story. After reading this book, the reader can basically understand some of the style of Cao Wenxuan's works.

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11. 《红瓦黑瓦》Red Tiles and Black Tiles Publication Date: March 20105 This book can be regarded as a continuation of The Straw Hut from the content and life reflected in the novel. The novel takes the oily land as the background, poetically describes the past rural life from the perspective of a middle school student, and carefully records the growth process of life for young boys and girls. The whole book plot ups and downs, shocking, caring and feelings in the words between the lines.

12. 《野风车》The Windmill Publication Date: April 20105 The book describes story between a village boy and a girl from Suzhou City. A happy boy who thought he deprived others of their happiness and fell into endless guilt; a few children just walked into a wooden house when an avalanche occurred ... The works are fresh and pure, with elegant style. The story is exquisite and full of wisdom.

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曹文轩纯美绘本” Cao Wenxuan’s Illustration Series Cao Wenxuan’s Illustration Series consists of eight volumes, each of which tells an independent and touching story. Each book presents a strong sense of life and profound feelings, cultivating children's life feeling, aesthetic perception, to nurture children's spiritual world. This set of books won the 4th China Outstanding Publication Award, the 3rd China Publishing Government Award.

1. 最后一只豹子 The last leopard Publication Date: April 2010 On the moors, a leopard is walking alone. It's looking for other leopards. But after a few days of searching, it found nothing. It met a wild pigeon, a marmot and an old oak tree. A small pond reflected the leopard's tired face, but the strong sun took away the last bit of water in the pond, the leopard slowly slept away. After the heavy rain, the pond was filled with water again, but the leopard did not wake up again.

2. 菊花娃娃 The Doll Daisy Publication Date: April 2010 There is a beautiful woman in a beautiful town, making dolls every day. Every time she did it, she would embroider a chrysanthemum on the doll's body. From sunrise to sunset, from spring and autumn to winter and summer, from blue silk to white head, women spent a lifetime to do such a pure cause.

3. 痴鸡 Chi Ji Publication Date: April 2010 As soon as the black hen heard the chick's cry, he immediately straightened his neck, and then strode over. As soon as he sees the chicken, he ignored people around and raced to the side. But the chicks saw it as if the child had seen a madman and fled in horror. I felt as if I had heard the black hen say, "why did you run?" The black hen covered them in its arms with big wings. The covered chicken screamed in the darkness, then drilled out and ran under the man's legs.

4. 一条大鱼向东游 A big fish swam towards east Publication Date: April 2010 A bridge pile stands alone in the middle of the river. Day after day, it admired the stars in the sky, the wild goose in the sky, and the poplars on the earth. The bridge pile felt lonely and useless. This day suddenly came a boy; the boy throws a piece of stone or tile to the bridge pile. Although the bridge pile felt some pain, but it was very happy: because it is no longer alone. The heavy rain after the autumn roared and flooded the village. The boy was washed over by the water, the bridge pile was uprooted. Then the

11 / 14 boy climbed into the shoal with the life-saving bridge pile. Looking back, the bridge pile has been integrated into the midst of many of the wood like a big fish, gone with the waves. 5. 鸟船 The Bird Boat Publication Date: March 2012 Over a rainy night, the boat drifted into the dense reeds. Endless loneliness hangs over it. A pair of big white birds makes nests in the cabin. Soon, the birds were born. One day, the big birds went out for food, and a fox came. The hungry fox covets the birds. The boat ran out of strength, even brandishing a long cable, chased away the fox and saved the bird. It was another night of heavy rain, and there was shallow water in the reeds. The boat wanted to go home. The birds spread huge wings, held up long cables, and flew towards the river... On the wide river, birds and boats make a magnificent picture. 6. 马和马 Horse and Horse Publication Date: March 2012 Black horses and white horses were born in a family at the same time; they eat grass together, play together, and grow up slowly together. The war broke out, and the white horse went to the front line and became a horse of great merit. The dark horse worked day and night, and he was happy for the white horse. The white horse was seriously injured and was carried back to the village. The master soon got bored. Only the dark horse accompanied it. Under the careful care of the dark horse, the white horse finally stood up. 7. 飞翔的鸟窝 Flying Bird Nest

Publication Date: May 2013 8. 罗圈腿的小猎狗 The hunting dog

Publication Date: March 2014

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萌萌鸟系列 Cute Bird Series Publication Date: 2015-2018 Cute Bird Series contains 18 volumes. Cute birds is a big, beautiful bird that drink alcohol and go crazy very often. One day, he fell into the water during the flight, and was rescued by an old fishing man in the Wuque Town. Robber PoMaoZi plans to rob the town! Cute Bird Wawa took charge of the defense of the town, and summoned a flock of birds to intercept the robber: they pecked off their sails, took their clothes, and ate their food.

“丁丁当当系列” Dingding and Dangdang Series Dingding and Dangdang is a pair of affectionate brothers. The lost each other and two people look for each other, walked through the north and south of the river, their footprints have covered all the city, countryside, coal mines. Along the way, they met all kinds of people, some are kind, and some are sinister. Their journey contains a series of humorous and touching stories. This is a simple story about victory over the complex, fools over the wise, which is full of wisdom, enlightening.

羽毛 Feather

"Feather" tells a beautiful and meaningful story. A feather will be blown to anywhere by the wind. "Which bird do I belong to?" "From a moment on, feathers ask themselves this way. She began to look for a bird, like a lonely soul began to look for their own belonging. She asked kingfisher, "Am I yours?" She asked the cuckoo, "Am I yours?" She asked the herons, the big dragonflies, the peacocks, the swans, the birds, the birds. Although the birds have different postures, attitudes or indifference or enthusiasm, their answer is: "No." After a long and lonely search, there is a warm ending. Finally, the feather fell on the ground, and she calmed down. At this moment, the question and the answer seem to become no longer important, and everything on the road becomes the best memories. The question of feather is also the fundamental question of human, that is: Where do I come from? Where are we going? Who do I belong to? Feather’s ups and downs of the root-seeking journey looks like a human life.

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烟 Smoke The picture book tells a story of understanding and tolerance in poetic language. The fat man lives in the east of river, and the thin man lives in the west of the river. They are friends. But a small dispute, they do not let their children play with each other. Their children do not let their own dogs play with each other in turn. Until one morning, the two families were making breakfast; the fat man family uses the wet wood to make fire with black smoke, while the thin man family uses dry wood with white smoke. Black smoke white smoke floating into the sky, they first freely floated for a while, soon, the integrate together.

第八号街灯 No.8 Streetlight The eighth streetlight is the eyes of Qinghua Street, it stands high under the sky, like eyes silently watching the street: old men, dogs, old women, they come and go. It seems like a stage play, but it reflects the real life.

风吹到乌镇时累了 The wind tired when passing Wuzhen The mischievous wind feels full of power, it can blow down the bike, blow over the girls' umbrellas, it feel interesting to pranks people. Finally, the mischievous wind broke through the disaster.

大王书 Dawang Tome

The novel series Dawang Tome was carefully conceived by the author over eight years. The works is fantasy with the pursuit of pure beauty quality. The scene is magnificent.

夏天 Summer On a hot summer's day, a herd of animals desperately looks for shade in the great wilderness. The animals quarrelled and got into a fight over a tree. In the end, the elephant won. However, when they looked back, they found that it was a tree that was almost dead, and only a few branches and two of the pulled leaves. Just then, the animals saw a father and son crossing the moors. In order to give the child a little shade, the father used his huge figure to cover the thin son

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