The cover of Chào Thế Giới Bây Giờ Con Đã Đến (Hello World, I’m Here), the first of a collection of poems for children written by Lê Minh Quốc published to celebrate International Children’s Day on June 1. Photo courtesy of Culture & Arts Publishing House

HCM CITY A collection of poems for children by veteran writer Lê Minh Quốc of the Việt Nam Writers Association has been released to celebrate International Children’s Day on June 1.   

Chào Thế Giới Bây Giờ Con Đã Đến (Hello World, I’m Here) contains 99 works with illustrations by artists of Culture & Arts Publishing House.

It features images of forests, animals, friendship and love, and offers a window into the mind and character of Vietnamese children.

Some of the works were created for the writer’s infant daughter.

“My baby brought me a wonderful life,” said the 59-year-old. 

“My collection, Chào Thế Giới Bây Giờ Con Đã Đến, is my gift to parents and children who make the world better,” he added,

Quốc, 59, works for the HCM City-based Women Newspaper. He has worked as a Vietnamese language teacher at colleges and universities in the city.

He has written more than 50 books in different fields, including nine poem collections about women and love.

His highlighted books include poem collections Thơ Tình Lê Minh Quốc (Love Poems of Lê Minh Quốc) in 1995 and Yêu Em, Đà Nẵng (Love You, Đà Nẵng) in 1999. 

Chào Thế Giới Bây Giờ Con Đã Đến is Quốc’s first book for children.

Quốc said: “I hope my poems in Chào Thế Giới Bây Giờ Con Đã Đến will help readers, particularly children, love the world and its people.” — VNS