Some Vietnamese picture book titles will be featured at the first Vietnam Children’s Picture Book Festival, which will be held in HCM City from May 28-31. — VNS Photo Phương Mai

HCM CITY — Thousands of children’s picture books published by Vietnamese and foreign publishing houses and book distributors will be showcased at the first-ever festival for picture books in Việt Nam.

The Vietnam Children’s Picture Book Festival (VCPF) will feature the theme “Picture books that nurture children through difficult times”, which will be held in HCM City by the end of this month.

The festival will include a showcase of 90 typical Vietnamese picture books and 10 book series, reflecting the development of picture books in the domestic market from 2006 to 2026.

The exhibition aims to honour authors, painters, and publications that have been familiar to many generations of Vietnamese children, and to help the public gain a deep understanding of the process of creating a picture book and the artistic and cultural values of Vietnamese picture books.

The exhibition will be set up at two locations, the HCM City General Sciences Library and the HCM City Book Street.

The event will also feature the Korea Picture Book Publishers Association, which will introduce 66 picture book titles from the Republic of Korea and exchange and share experiences with local publishers and readers.

There will be 12 stalls presenting thousands of Vietnamese and foreign picture books published by Vietnamese publishers, book distributors and educational organisations, such as the Kim Đồng Publishing House, Nhã Nam Books, Chuột Đất Books, and Room to Read Vietnam.

The festival will feature book introductions, talk shows and discussions on the role of picture books in education and society by authors, illustrators, publishers, experts and educators from Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Việt Nam.

It will also offer book readings, short drama performances based on picture books, and workshops on creating a picture book.

The VCPF is organised by Slowbooks, a picture book distributor in HCM City, and its partners, the General Sciences Library, and the HCM City branch of the Việt Nam Publishing Association.

Nguyễn Hữu Quỳnh Hương, founder of Slowbooks and head of the organisation board, said at the press conference on Tuesday that Việt Nam still has resources, including skilled authors and illustrators, and publishers specialising in picture books, to develop the domestic picture book market and reach global platforms.

Hương said that the VCPF aims to create a playground for authors, illustrators, parents and children, promote reading culture and nurture knowledge among young generations, promote picture books imbued with Vietnamese culture to the foreign market and introduce international works to domestic readers.

The VCPF will open to the public for free from May 28-31 at the General Sciences Library at 69 Lý Tự Trọng Street in Bến Thành Ward. — VNS