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China has a long tradition of highlighting reading for children, but many of todays youngsters seem not to have developed a love of books

Shoved into Cheng Qidis room is a bulky bookcase, all three of its shelves full of books sorted by their subjects. Dozens of books occupy most of the desk thats beside the bookcase, while on the wall is a poster of U.S. basketball star Allen Iverson.

“You see all those books there, but few of them hold my interest,” Cheng, a high school student in Beijings Fengtai District, commented to Beijing Review.

While China has traditionally emphasized the importance of literacy and reading, many children today seem to have little interest in books beyond comics and cartoons. The high price of books also tends to discourage a love of reading, some parents say.

Schoolwork pressure

In Chengs bookcase are piles of reference books dealing with English and ancient Chinese poetry exercises; several guides on the college entrance exam are in a prominent position.

“Some of them were bought at the schools request, some were picked up for me by my mom, but I barely have any time for these books,” said Cheng. “Especially for those college entrance exam guide books, which are totally beyond my present ability. I dont understand a bit of them.”

He then closes the door to his room and unlocks the drawer to his desk. “These are what Ive been reading. I read them slowly, because each day I dont have time for myself until 10 oclock at night when I finish my schoolwork,” Cheng said.

Among the books are Family, the story of a disintegrating feudal household by Ba Jin, one of Chinas most revered writers, and Norwegian Wood, a popular novel by the renowned Japanese writer Haruki Murakami.

“My parents dont know Ive been reading these, and if they find out theyll confiscate them,” Cheng said.

“I spend an average of two hours on my schoolwork, then Ive got to go over my lessons,” he said. “My schedule is set by my parents. They tell me to go to bed at 10 and Im allowed to do nothing but study before 10.

“Even if I finish everything ahead of bedtime, I have to do other exercises instead of doing my own reading. So the only time I get to read is the period between when I go to bed and when I fall asleep. I dont know whether my classmates like reading books or not, but I assure you that even if they do, they dont have time for that, just like me,” he added.

“But of course, Ill close my door and do my reading on the sly from time to time, and Im quick enough to hide the book before my parents come into my room to inspect,” Cheng said.

At the bottom of the drawer is a comic book called Slam Dunk. “I also like basketball, but I have little time to watch the NBA games on TV,” Cheng said. “Many of my classmates are also reading this, its pretty good.”

He noted, “I understand my parents, and try my utmost to do what they want me to do, but I wont give up my reading. When I go to college, Ill have time to finish all the books that Ive been looking forward to reading.”

Comics and cartoons popular

Not all children are like Cheng, who is immersed in schoolwork and deprived of the time to read. So, whats popular among those who have the time to read?

A middle school teacher in Nanning, capital city of south Chinas Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, conducted a small-scale survey of around 100 students in his class to find out what their favorite books were. The answer was Duzhe (Readers) magazine, the Chinese equivalent of U.S. publication Readers Digest. But the result was quite different from other surveys.

Another survey conducted in the same city showed that the favorite reading materials among primary school students were comic books, fairy tales and students composition collections; the results from middle school students showed a wider range.

Among the 112 books that have been read by first grade students in Nannings No. 14 High School, comic books topped the list with 31. Of the total, 37 were detective stories, love stories, tales of chivalry and campus literature, while nine were Chinese classical literature books.

Among the 224 titles that have been read by first grade students in Nannings No. 2 High School, novels about knights by the famous writers Jin Yong and Gu Long took the lead, accounting for 25 percent of the total. Computer magazines and novels like The Lord of the Rings and the Harry Potter series accounted for 10 percent; other foreign literature made up 7 percent, and Chinese classical literature only occupied 2 percent.

Choosing appropriate non-classroom reading for students has received special attention from experts, scholars and society for a long time. Peng Junjiao, a Chinese teacher in Nannings No. 2 High School, said that while high school students read a wide range of books, they have not developed a strong reading habit. Some just read for novelty and some abandon themselves to comics.

As a Chinese teacher, Peng holds that a wide range of reading helps students to accumulate knowledge and build reading comprehension. She does not encourage students to read reference books, however, especially composition collections, saying these formulate students thinking and discourage their creativity. Reading classical literature, on the other hand, helps to nurture their morality, she added.

Lack of good material

Though various childrens books can be obtained in Chinas bookstores, comic books and cartoons from Japan and the West account for a large proportion of the available reading material. Given that Chinese classical works like A Journey to West and A Dream of Red Mansions have been made into cartoons, they are losing competitive strength to their foreign counterparts.

“Ive been reading those classical Chinese stories since I was very young and now Im not interested in them any more,” said Sun Mingming, a sixth grade primary school student in Beijing.

Most of the books she and her fellow classmates read are Japanese cartoons, aside from a few tales written by Chinese fairy writer Zheng Yuanjie. Aside from these, they did not see any other books that would hold their interest, Sun added.

An employee at Xinhua Bookstore, the countrys largest book chain, commented that young children like comics and cartoons, which is a gap at home that needs to be filled. For older children, who like childrens literature, there are few original works.

Some educators maintain that Chinas childrens books lack compelling plots and easily understandable language, which is primarily responsible for their unpopularity. However, with the prevalence of television and the Internet, childrens interests differ from the past. When they want to read, they prefer books that are fun and entertaining.

Deng Lidong, Deputy Director of the Education Science Institute in Nanning, spoke of the negative impact of the lack of proper reading material for children. On the one hand, theres an insufficiency of appropriate reading material for children; on the other hand, “improper” books such as sentimental novels and illegal publications are gradually catching their eyes. They are too young to tell whats good and whats bad, he said, which could lead to unfavorable influences on their lives.

Costly books

Another issue experts cite for childrens lack of interest in reading is the high cost of books. Guo Hong, who was picking up books for her 10-year-old son in Beijings Xidan Bookstore, gave up on a set of 100,000 Whys after she discovered it would cost hundreds of yuan or dozens of dollars. “I just dont understand why childrens books are so expensive,” Guo said. Pointing to some books nearby, she said, “Even the cheapest will cost you 20 yuan ($2.5) or 30 yuan ($3.7), let alone those deluxe editions.”

Expensive books leave many no choice but to read them in the bookstore for free.

“I have to admit that I cant afford these books,” said a boy squatting in a corner of the store, with a book open in his hands.

“I come here to read free books every weekend.”

He said there were too few books in his school library, but the store is like a “sea” of books and he can read whatever he wants. “Many want to buy but the high prices scares them away.”

Childrens books also are considered to be poorly made. “Todays childrens books look splendid outside, but are so roughly manufactured inside,” Meng Hongxia from Xinjiang complained as she was buying books for her 3-year-old son.

Meng was referring to Grimms Fairy Tales, a book published by a Shanghai-based publishing group. Instead of the full Grimms Fairy Tales collection, the 40- or 50-page book has only five stories inside, with every page containing several lines of Chinese characters annotated with pinyin and the rest of the page full of colored cartoon drawings.

Rich content, many parents believe, is more important than diverse colors and drawings. Though they are investing more in the education of their children with the improvement in incomes, they wont buy books that fail to meet their standards.