79
The Far East
Sheila Ray
In the diverse countries of the Far East, attitudes to the reading and publishing of
children’s books vary widely. Levels of literacy are generally related to the wealth of the
country. Some countries have been swamped by British and American children’s books,
and have had to struggle against this flood of imports to produce indigenous children’s
literature. This is particularly true of Malaysia and Singapore where the influence of
writers such as Enid Blyton is apparent. Political climates vary too. China, Mongolia and
Vietnam, for example, have a very positive attitude towards children’s books, and
reading is seen as a popular activity. In the wealthiest countries, such as Japan and
Singapore, life is earnest and children’s books are assessed in terms of the contribution
they make to the educational process. Japan has long imported and translated Western
books, and now, in return, exports its own books to the West, where the work of Anno,
the picture book author/illustrator, for example, is well known and admired. Singapore
imports so many English and American children’s books, with no need for translation,
that local publishers see little point in trying to compete.
However, there are some notable examples of cross-border cooperation which try to
overcome some of the problems involved in publishing books of high quality. The Asian
Co-Publication Programme (ACP), which began its programme in 1973, is coordinated by
the Asian Cultural Centre for UNESCO (ACCU) in Tokyo. The aim is to involve as many
Asian countries as possible in producing low-priced picture books for areas that suffer
from book shortages. Titles are planned by experts from twenty-three countries who
pool their knowledge and suggest suitable topics and themes. Manuscripts with
illustrations are submitted to ACCU in English and an English edition is prepared,
which serves as a master. ACCU then produces duplicate sets of film which are
distributed to the national agencies in the participating countries, who then organise the
translation of the text into one or more of their indigenous languages, and publish and
distribute the books in their own countries. By 1990, twenty-two titles had been
published in twenty-six countries and thirty-eight languages. The topics chosen for the
books include festivals, folk-tales and contemporary stories.
Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei Darussalem also
cooperate on a smaller scale within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
through the Project on Children’s Books and Source Materials, which is coordinated in
Thailand by the Book Development Centre, part of the Ministry of Education in Bangkok.
Water, Water Everywhere (1985) and Doll’s Party (1985) are good examples of ASEAN
productions. Well produced, with information relevant to each of the six countries