Publishers turn to Asian theme kids books

Publishers turn to Asian theme kids books

By Jon Herskovitz

NEW YORK (Reuters): Along with tales of dinosaurs, Dr. Seuss collections and Britney Spears' beauty tips for teens, stories about dim sum, China's Cultural Revolution and Japanese-American internment camps are finding their way onto the shelves in children's book departments.

Major publishing groups have found a market for a variety of picture books, a book about a bagel-loving Korean schoolboy, and the tragic memoir of a young Chinese girl's life of emotional abuse by her wealthy father and beautiful, cruel stepmother -- to generate retail sales in bookstores, in children's book clubs, and for school libraries.

For the Delacorte Press and Alfred A. Knopf group, a leader in publishing children's books with Asian themes, being on the bandwagon of multiculturalism is fine, but more importantly, it makes good business sense.

The publishing group has put out several titles with Asian and Asian-American themes that have met an essential element of commercial publishing: They have sold well.

Some of the group's recent titles include a preschoolers' picture book "Dim Sum for Everyone," by Grace Lin; "The Name Jar" a picture book by Yangsook Choi for elementary schoolchildren, about a Korean girl who has recently arrived in the United States; and "China's Son" by Da Chen, about China's Cultural Revolution, aimed at American teens.

"What we are trying to do is break down stereotypes," said Beverly Horowitz, vice president and publisher of children's books for Bantam, Doubleday Dell, Delacorte Press, Alfred A. Knopf and Crown.

"At the moment we are not publishing into that market as a niche market," Horowitz said. "We are publishing wonderful books that are interesting books in their own essence."

Growing market

Horowitz said the company is well aware that the Asian- American population in the United States is growing, but targeting books only to that segment of the population does not make economic sense, because the numbers are not large enough.

According to the 2000 Census, Asian-Americans -- at 10.2 million -- made up the fastest-growing racial group in the United States.

There are some old favorites such as Penguin's Sadako, about a girl who dies of radiation sickness after the Hiroshima bombing, Farewell to Manzanar, the autobiography of a girl in a Japanese- American internment camp, and also numerous tales of China from author Laurence Yep, published by HarperCollins.

Horowitz said the Delacorte Knopf children's book group has been fortunate in finding some good Asian and Asian-American authors who can turn out enjoyable and marketable books.

The publisher has also turned to its nonfiction titles for adults and scaled them down for the young adult audience.

The title Falling Leaves, Adeline Yen Mah's memoir, became "Chinese Cinderella" for the American teen market, and the young adult title "China's Son, about a boy growing up in the 1960s' Cultural Revolution, from Delacorte Press, was adapted from last year's bestseller called Colors of the Mountain by Da Chen.

Part of it is general interest and part is a growing population who will respond to it, because that's what we need to succeed editorially, she said.

Universal themes

Even though these books may have Asian-specific themes, children can relate to them because they deal with themes such as group acceptance or bucking tradition to search for independence, she said.

Lensey Namioka is a veteran writer for the publishing group's children's division. One of her most recent offerings is a book called Ties That Bind, Ties That Break about a wealthy Chinese girl growing up in early 20th century Nanjing who won't bow to tradition by refusing to have her feet bound.

In the bigger scheme of things, the Asian-theme books are just a drop in the bucket compared to behemoths such as the Harry Potter series.

But the market for Asian-themed children's books is noticeable and it is growing enough to support more titles. It is growing, in part, because the Asian and Asian-American experience has made its way more deeply into the American mainstream, Horowitz said.

"Maybe because the Asian-American population is growing, people are feeling more comfortable about their environment and are writing more about their experience," she said.