Feng Zikai Chinese Children's Picture Book Award facts for kids

The Feng Zikai Chinese Children's Picture Book Award is a special prize given every two years. It celebrates amazing Chinese children's picture books. The award helps find and promote high-quality books written and drawn by Chinese artists. It also thanks the authors, illustrators, and publishers for their hard work. The award is named after Feng Zikai (1898–1975), a famous Chinese illustrator. It was the first international award for Chinese children's picture books.

This award is supported by the Chen Yet-Sen Family Foundation. This group, based in Hong Kong, helps kids learn to read. The first awards were given out in July 2009. Since then, they have been given every two years.

The Feng Zikai Award is similar to the Caldecott Medal in the United States. The Caldecott Medal honors the best American picture book for children each year.

Why This Award Matters

Many of the best children's picture books in Chinese-speaking areas used to be translations from other languages. These books might not always feel real or familiar to Chinese children. The Feng Zikai Award was created to help fix this. It aims to encourage more original, high-quality Chinese picture books.

The award celebrates the great work of writers and illustrators of Chinese children's picture books. By doing this, it hopes to inspire more people to create and share wonderful books for kids.

The Feng Zikai Award also wants to encourage children to read more. Reading is very important for a child's growth. The award helps build a strong reading culture among children in Chinese-speaking regions.

Award Prizes

The top prize is the "Best Children's Book Award." The winner receives US$20,000. The award organizers also buy 3,000 copies of the winning book. These books are then given to schools.

There are also two other special awards. The "Judging Panel's Recommended Illustration Award" and the "Judging Panel's Recommended Writing Award" each come with a US$10,000 prize.

In addition, the "Outstanding Children's Picture Book Award" is given to 10 authors. Each of these authors receives US$1,000.

Award Winners

The 8th Awards, 2023

• Best Chinese Children's Picture Book Award – winner
  • "Mr. Bear's Class Learns to Write 1" 《不一樣的1》 by author Yanan Wu 吳亞男 and illustrator Liu Longsha 柳壟沙

• Outstanding Chinese Children's Picture Book Award
  • "Secrets at the Zoo" 《動物園的祕密》by Huang Yi-Wen 黃一文 (author and illustrator)
  • "The One-sided Painter" 《畫家馬一邊》by Tom Liu 湯姆牛 (author and illustrator)
  • "Granny's Sea" 《誰是魔法王?》by Wan Shan Cheung 張韻珊 (author and illustrator)
  • "The Life in A Lotus Seed"《一顆蓮子的生命旅程》 by author Ying Ting Chen 陳瑩婷 and illustrator Hua Qing 花青

The 7th Awards, 2021

• Best Chinese Children's Picture Book Award – winner
  • "Sudan's Rhino Horn" 《蘇丹的犀角》 by author Dai Yun 戴芸 and illustrator Li Xingming 李星明

• Outstanding Chinese Children's Picture Book Award
  • "Happy Birthday" 《生日快樂》by Adeline Ko 高佩聰 (author and illustrator)
  • "Button Soldier" 《鈕扣士兵》by Jiu’er 九兒 (author and illustrator)
  • "Little Bear, Run" 《小熊，快跑》by author Shi Lei 史雷 and illustrator Ma Penghao 馬鵬浩
  • "Dung Beetle’s Birthday Present"《糞金龜的生日禮物》 by author Gong Wei Guo 龔衛國 and illustrator Tao Ju Xiang 陶菊香

The 6th Awards, 2019

Judges for this year included Sarah Ko, Fang Weiping, Sandra Lee, Hsu Su-hsia, Meilo So, Chen En Li, and Ji Zhao Hua.

• Best Chinese Children's Picture Book Award – winner
  • "About the Grandmother's Horse"《外婆家的马》 by Xie Hua 谢华 (author) and Huang Li 黄丽 (illustrator)

• Outstanding Chinese Children's Picture Book Award
  • "A Maverick Piggy" 《一个特立独行的猪》by Zhang Ning 张宁 (author and illustrator)
  • "Under the Same Moon" 《同一个月亮》by Jimmy Liao 几米 (author and illustrator)
  • "The Flyaway Tickets" 《车票去哪里了？》by Hsu-Kung Liu 刘旭恭 (author and illustrator)
  • "Let's Go to the Zoo, My Dear Brother" 《一起去动物园》 by Lin Po Ting 林柏廷

The 1st Awards, 2009

• Best Chinese Children's Picture Book Award
  • "A New Year's Reunion" by Yu Liqiong 余丽琼 (author) and Zhu Chengliang 朱成梁 (illustrator)

This first winning book was translated into English. It was published by Candlewick (US) and Walker Books (UK). In 2011, it was chosen as one of the New York Times Book Review’s 10 Best Illustrated Books of the Year.

• Judging Panel’s Recommended Writing Award
  • The King of Hide and Seek《躲貓貓大王》 by Zhang Xiaoling (author) 张晓玲 (author) and Pan Jian 潘坚 (illustrator)
  • The Day Vegetables Became Goblins《一園青菜成了精》by Zhou Xiang (author and illustrator) 周翔 (author and illustrator)

• Outstanding Children’s Picture Book Award
  • "The Morning Market at Lotus Town"《荷花鎮的早市》by Zhou Xiang (author and illustrator) 周翔 (author and illustrator)
  • "Me and My Bike"《我和我的腳踏車》by Ye Ande 叶安德 (author and illustrator)
  • "An’s Seeds" 《安的種子》by Wang Zaozao 王早早 (author) and Huang Li (illustrator) 黄丽 (illustrator)
  • "I’ve Become a Fire Breathing Dragon!"《我變成一隻噴火龍了!》by Laima (author and illustrator) 賴馬 (author and illustrator)
  • "Now Do You Know Who I Am?"《現在，你知道我是誰了嗎?》by Laima (author and illustrator) 賴馬 (author and illustrator)
  • "A Wednesday Afternoon, Chasing Tadpoles"《星期三下午，捉‧蝌‧蚪》An Shih-liu 安石榴 (author and illustrator)
  • "I Want to Be Different"《想要不一樣》by Tong Jia 童嘉 (author and illustrator)
  • "On the Pond, Under the Pond"《池上池下》by Chiu Chen-tsung 邱承宗 (author and illustrator)
  • "Xi Xi"《西西》by Xiao Mao 萧袤 (author), Li Chunmiao 李春苗 (illustrator) and Zhang Yanhong 张彦红 (illustrator)