Yang Hongying Fairy Tales · 1

Author: Yang Hongying
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-05-01
Features: Absolutely top-tier fairy tales! It integrates accurate and profound scientific knowledge into a series of engaging and delightful fairy tales. Yang Hongying became famous for her campus novels—books like Bad Boys, Beautiful Teachers, and Boys and Girls. I joined the crowd and read them, and wow, they were really great—happy, free, liberating, fresh, and sometimes truly so. But when I first heard that Yang Hongying also had a series of science fairy tales, I was quite surprised. In a way, her science fairy tales far surpass her campus novels, and perhaps she herself acknowledges this. Her language remains light, rhythmic, and approachable. Moreover, the themes of this series of fairy tales are very distinctive, making the reading experience particularly striking. Open up this book right away! Kids, you’ve just opened the gateway to the of science.
Perhaps in the adult world, Yang Hongying is not a name many are familiar with, but if you ask today’s elementary school students who they are reading, most will tell you: Yang Hongying. During the SARS outbreak, when the book market was not doing well, Yang Hongying’s new work Beautiful Teacher and Bad Boys sold out 40,000 copies and became the only original work on the recent children’s bestseller list. Yang Hongying’s campus novel series has also become a hot choice for film and television adaptations. Her works A Girl’s Diary, Bad Boys of Class 5-3, and Beautiful Teacher and Bad Boys have been acquired by companies like China Film Group and Beijing Television Drama Production Center for adaptation. Under such high popularity, it’s really hard not to pay attention to Yang Hongying.
Yang Hongying herself is very aware of how well her books are received. She told an interviewer that not only do young readers appreciate her books, but many parents also began to understand their children after reading them, and some children even bought her books under their teachers’ guidance. Such results were somewhat beyond her expectations, as she had originally worried that her books might cause some trouble and attract criticism from teachers or parents. For example, the title Bad Boys of Class 5-3 or the revolutionary and avant-garde teacher in Beautiful Teacher and Bad Boys. The books subtly reflect her thoughts on traditional school education and family education.
One of the great strengths of Yang Hongying’s works is their respect for children’s nature. The language is humorous and vivid, with no obvious moralizing. She herself believes that children are children, and they grow step by step. If they are made to act like little adults when they’re young, they might grow up to say they never had a childhood, which would be a tragedy. Therefore, she says, she doesn’t fear being criticized for writing shallow or low-quality content. She writes for children, and if they enjoy it, she is satisfied. She says, “Why do I write my books to be so light and enjoyable? That’s the responsibility of a children’s literature writer. Because a person’s interest in reading begins with children’s books. If they start reading with something pleasant and relaxed, they’ll keep reading. Even when they grow older and start reading more serious books, what they’re exposed to in childhood is very important.” This realization came from her daughter, who fell in love with reading after starting to read her mother’s books.
A distinctive feature of Yang Hongying’s works is their idealistic tone. She skillfully avoids many of the sharp and profound contradictions embedded in them. She is not shy about this: “My work is a kind of paradise, and I want everyone to strive for it.” She believes that children’s literature must align with children’s reading psychology and must give them bright and inspiring elements. Children’s natural inclinations are full of yearnings, and she gives them space to pursue them. At the same time, she thinks that since she writes from a child’s perspective, many problems and contradictions should appear as they do to children. She says, “Many of our previous children’s literary works failed because their thinking was too complex and always tried to solve problems in an adult way. When I write, I think deeply about many issues, but my readers are children, and the author’s mindset cannot be transferred unchanged. My style is to make the profound accessible, to be light and humorous. I want people to reflect and realize many things. In my works, there won’t be sharp conflicts, and I won’t force people to be defeated.”