On March 30, 2022, the "2021 Annual Ranking of Original Picture Books", co-sponsored by the China Picture Book Creation Research Center of Beijing Normal University and the Education Group of Beijing Normal University, held a final evaluation meeting in Beijing. 10 outstanding Chinese picture books such as "Lost Child", "Three Friends", "Gale", "Motionless Competition", "River Tour", "Don't Hide and Seek with Glutinous Rice Balls", "Different 1", "A Fairy and Two Seven-Year-Old Girls", "The Life Journey of a Lotus Seed", "My Family Has a Little Fairy" and so on were selected.
01 Lost child
This is a work of high standards in the art of graphic ensembles, and it also creates a paradigm standard for the creation of difficult poetry picture books. The author's original poems depict the escape and return of a little girl in fantasy with a concise and compact plot and free and brisk language, and accurately capture and portray the children's spiritual world. The painter's pictorial creation uses exaggerated shapes and bright tones to visually visualize the enthusiasm and romance of children's spiritual wandering, and his creative picture content design and clever pictorial processing of words greatly expand the tracing space of imaginary themes and poetry chapters and sentences. The picture and the text and pearl are combined and mutual achievements, which perfectly pays tribute to the precious spirit of childhood.
02 Three friends
This is an original picture book with strong folklore colors. The peaceful life of three good friends is shattered by the appearance of a mouse, and friends experience friendship and the ups and downs of life in a dramatic change full of coincidences and inevitable. The text writer uses humorous, smooth and concise words to close the distance between the story and the young reader. The suspenseful plot design is both an interaction with the reader and an invitation to continue reading. The picture author uses only three colors to create a multi-level visual experience, and through the fusion of multiple art forms such as collage and Dunhuang murals, the whole story is more Chinese expression. At the end of the story, friendship and the return of life with the help of "tips and tricks" bring readers the simple philosophy and oriental wisdom of "win-win cooperation" in addition to surprises.
03 High winds
The picture book version of Gale reinterprets Mo Yan's short story. The adapted text is more concise and concise, with both the rendering of the scene environment and the portrayal of the details of the characters. The rugged and powerful painting vividly restores the rural style of the Gaomi area of Shandong in the early 1960s through the alternating changes of perspectives and the contrast of light and shade of colors. The literary, childlike and artistic nature of the works are blended, the charm of the natural environment, the strong emotions of the grandchildren, and the tenacity of the life force can be seen in the story. The adaptation of Gale is a meaningful exploration that bridges between adult literature and picture books, and provides a new possibility for the creation of original picture books in the future.
04 Motionless Contest
This is a unique and original picture book for young children. In the face of Daddy Cat's enthusiastic interaction and game invitations, the kitten is motionless. The author uses simple pictures and exaggerated expressions to convey the story. At the end of the story, the cat father finally discovers the key to it: it turns out that this is a "motionless" competition. Seemingly simple discoveries are the most precious, and interacting with them in the way that young children need is the greatest respect and the most sincere love for children.
05 River cruise
This is a picture book full of philosophical and romantic temperament. In the blue-purple fog, a flat leaf boat carried two teenagers to swim in the river, starting a mysterious and interesting journey. As the pages of the book turn, the teenagers' minds rise and fall in the suspicion and misjudgment of the scenery in the fog, and the readers also throw themselves into the game of suspense and reversal, shuttling and going back and forth in the actual scenes and fantasy situations of the grass forest, and then asking questions in surprise and thinking in questions. A trip to break through the restrictions of the fog to "swim the river" is finally interpreted into a life journey of courage and wisdom in exploration and thinking, so the work has the connotation of thought and the expressiveness of art.
06 Do not hide and seek with glutinous rice balls
Don't Hide and Seek with Glutinous Rice Balls is a creative traditional food picture book. It should be in line with the child's nature of liking food, with hide-and-seek and disguise as the main line, through the combination of glutinous rice balls and different things colliding, reflecting the richness and innovation of Chinese food culture, and with a certain philosophical significance. The story is cleverly conceived, rich in imagination, rigorous in logic, soft and cute in pictures, vivid in detail, and makes full use of turning pages to create suspense and surprises, which is an excellent picture book with both "interesting" and "meaningful".
07 different 1
"Different 1" uses a simple but profound story to present readers with a philosophy of life that is friendly to others and accepts oneself. The 1 drawn by each small animal is different, representing the unique imagination of each child, which is close to the child's life and in line with the child's cognitive law. The childish illustrations set up a warm stage for the text, add light humor to the gameplay, and convey the free, happy, and beautiful childhood spirit.
08 A fairy and two seven-year-old girls
A Fairy and Two Seven-Year-Old Girls is a picture book with a profound meaning and a moving situation. The story is divided into sections according to the timeline, the first half of which uses the narrative language of the reminiscence body to create a unique context of the folk tale, and the second half shows the distinctive characteristics of a contemporary girl in the childish and straightforward dialogue language. Stories with complex clues, subtle and complex emotions, and flexible and dreamy pictorial expressions give the thinking of moral meaning a warm emotional background.
09 The journey of a lotus seed's life
This is a non-fiction picture book with strong Chinese cultural significance, which shows the development and growth of a lotus seed in detail, authenticity, beauty and moving. With the simple and fresh elegant writing of Chinese painting, the intersection and integration of science, literature and art have become one. Readers who open the pages of the book can't help but be moved, and sincerely praise the life force that has been conceived, experienced blooming, and is endlessly alive in the cycle.
10 I have a little fairy in my house
This is a book that focuses on the relationship between brothers and sisters in a two-child family. The author tells the daily life of accompanying his sister from the perspective of his brother, and the cute and annoying image of his sister jumps on the paper. In the "fairy world" constructed by his brother who loves to read and fantasize, many immortals in traditional culture appear in the first time. The works combine reality and imagination, children and culture, humorous and witty, logical and self-consistent, rich in life, warm and interesting. The "Easter egg" at the end is creative and novel, which enhances the sense of interaction between the work and the reader, and pushes the reading feeling to a small climax.