Taiwan Today

Taiwanese illustrator and author Chen Chih-yuan’s “Artie and Julie” has been selected as one of 10 notable children's books of 2009 by the U.S. National Council of Teachers of English. The Chinese version of “Artie and Julie” was published in 2006, receiving rave reviews and good market response. It has now been published in eight countries. The extremely influential “Kirkus Reviews” praised it as “a good book worth having.” The story is about how Artie the lion and Julie the rabbit grow up. At first, they are taught to be enemies, but they are brought together by destiny when searching for shelter in the rain and then become friends. The book will be featured, along with 29 other notable children's books, at the NCTE Convention slated for November this year and at the International Reading Association Convention in 2010, as well as in the Autumn 2009 edition of the “Journal of Children's Literature.” Chen is the first artist from Taiwan or mainland China to win this honor. Chen’s works have already won several international prizes, according to Chou Yih-fen, editor-in-chief of Heryin Books Inc., which published the Chinese edition of “Artie and Julie.” His “The Best Christmas Ever,” which has been translated into six languages, won the best children's book award of the Japan Library Association in 2006. Another title, “On My Way to Buy Eggs,” was selected by “Publishers Weekly” as one of the best children’s picture books of 2003. The dramatic visual style of Chen’s “Guji Guji” also caught the spotlight. The book appeared on the “New York Times” bestsellers list, and it has been translated into 11 languages. Chen collaborated with Chou in producing the “Mimi” series, which has already been marketed in more than ten countries. One of the books in the series, “Mimi Says No,” became the first Chinese-language picture book ever introduced to Finland, Denmark and Israel. (WFW-THN)