HCM CITY – Veteran writer Nguyễn Nhật Ánh’s latest book for children will hit bookshops next week. 

The 269-page book, Cám Ơn Người Lớn (Grown-Up), features 19 stories about urban children, Mùi, Tí Sún, Tủn and Hải Cò, as they discover the world together.

As in his previous books, Ánh’s latest offering highlights the beauty of friendship and love, written with his usual flair and imagination.

The official book signing will be held on HCM City Book Padestrian Street (Nguyễn Văn Bình Street) in District 1 on Saturday. 

The event is expected to attract hundreds of young and adult readers. Ánh will then introduce his new book to fans in Hà Nội early next month.

“We were children once. My book is for all of us,” said Ánh.

The HCM City-based Ánh began writing in 1984 and is known for his simple style and accurate depiction of children’s minds.

He is one of the city’s only authors that writes for children, and has penned many contemporary classics, including Kính Vạn Hoa (Kaleidoscope) and Thằng Quỷ Nhỏ (The Mischievous Boy), which became favourites of thousands of young people in the 1990s.

In 2007, Ánh’s Cho Xin Một Vé Đi Về Tuổi Thơ (Give Me a Ticket Back to Childhood) and Tôi Là Bê Tồ (I’m Bê Tồ) sold more than 20,000 copies in the first weeks of their release.

In 2010, Cho Xin Một Vé Đi Về Tuổi Thơ, the story of an urban boy named Mùi and his three friends, won the Southeast Asian Writers Award presented by the royal family of Thailand. The annual award recognises and honours the work of contemporary poets and writers in Southeast Asia.

The book has since been translated into Thai and published by Thailand publisher Nanmee Books.

One of his highlighted novels, Cô Gái Đến Từ Hôm Qua (The Girl Comes from Yesterday), released by Trẻ Publishing House in 1995, remains one of the country’s best-selling kids’ books, and Moscow University included it in the curriculum for Vietnamese-language students in 2014.

Cho Tôi Xin Một Vé Đi Tuổi Thơ and Cô Gái Đến Từ Hôm Qua were adapted into films by talented directors.

His notable books, Mắt Biếc (Blue Eyes), Bảy Bước Tới Mùa Hè (Seven Steps to Summer) and Ngày Xưa Có Một Chuyện Tình  (The Past Love Story), will be produced in Braille by schools for vision-impaired students in Hà Nội and HCM City.— VNS