The 6th Cricket Children's Awards: The first time there is a musician as the Knight

General Director of Vietnam News Agency Vu Viet Trang and Chairman of the Jury, poet Tran Dang Khoa presented the award to "Knight" Pham Tuyen." (Photo: Mai Mai/Vietnam+)

At the 6th De Men Children's Awards Ceremony - 2025, which took place this afternoon, May 28, at the National News Center, 5 Ly Thuong Kiet, Hanoi , the De Men Knight Award was presented to musician Pham Tuyen. This award is for his lifelong dedication to children with his timeless musical works, including the book Ve que - Khuc dong nhi cua be (co-authored by Pham Hong Tuyen), which was a finalist this year.

It is worth mentioning that after the literary authors are outstanding names such as Nguyen Nhat Anh (2020), Tran Duc Tien (2023), Ly Lan (2024), for the first time the award has Knight De Men, a musician.

The first musician to be honored as "Knight"

The award organized by the Sports and Culture newspaper (Vietnam News Agency) has officially announced the results of a "bumper" season with 1 Cricket Knight Award, 5 Cricket Aspiration Awards out of a total of 10 works, a series of works that entered the final round of the Award.

The Cricket Knight Award is the most prestigious award, awarded to authors who have made great contributions to children throughout their lives and careers, and whose excellent works have made it to the final round of the year of the award.

Musician Pham Tuyen (born in 1930) is one of the great names in modern Vietnamese music. Of the more than 700 songs that have left a deep mark on Vietnamese music, musician Pham Tuyen dedicated more than 200 songs to children. Songs such as Chiec den ong sao, Canh en tuoi tho, Tien len Doan vien ... have become an indispensable part of the memories of many generations.

Journalist Pham Hong Tuyen, daughter of "Knight" Pham Tuyen, shared at the award ceremony. (Photo: Mai Mai/Vietnam+)

However, few people know that he also has a special “treasure”: 41 ancient nursery rhymes that he set to music, containing the soulful and intimate beauty of natural landscapes, people, and Vietnamese folk culture. For the first time, after many years of lying dormant in a music book, this “treasure” has been introduced through the book project Children's Nursery Rhymes , with his daughter - journalist Pham Hong Tuyen as the narrator.

Children's nursery rhymes is a series of 5 books, of which Ve que - Children's nursery rhymes is the first volume to be published. Of the 41 nursery rhymes published under this project, only 5: Rềnh rềnh rang rang, Bà chồng đi cho, Gánh ganh gong gong, Bầu và Bí, Con chim chich choe have been recorded. The remaining 36 songs, including many familiar nursery rhymes such as Mau mau tinh tay, Thương con ba ba, Cái co di han con mua, Cái bong ... are being recorded for the first time. "My father always wished that these nursery rhymes would reach as many children as possible," said journalist Phạm Hồng Tuyến.

At the award ceremony, journalist Pham Hong Tuyen emotionally added: “Musician Pham Tuyen often said that a song can only be a song when people sing it. Therefore, my daughter decided not to stop at 'introducing the song', Ve que - Khuc ho nhien cua be also chosen to be expressed in the form of a multimedia book, combining storytelling, music, illustrations and QR codes to listen to music and stories - creating a seamless experience for children. Children just need to touch to enter the world of sound and images.”

According to journalist Pham Hong Tuyen, each book in the Children's Nursery Rhymes series is a silent and persistent effort to preserve the spirit of Vietnam, through bright illustrations, simple stories and sweet songs. Each nursery rhyme is not only music, a story, but also a game, thereby helping the song become lively.

Compositions by musician Pham Tuyen on display at the award ceremony. (Photo: Mai Mai/Vietnam+)

It can be said that the music of musician Pham Tuyen is both gently educational and contributes to nurturing the souls of children with beautiful melodies rich in traditional sounds. With his persistent and consistent contributions, he is considered a “musician of childhood,” a rare symbol of Vietnamese children's music for many decades.

Chairman of the jury, poet Tran Dang Khoa commented: “Musician Pham Tuyen is a giant in Vietnamese music. That 'giant tree' has three branches: One is lyrical music, two is revolutionary music and three is children's music. He is excellent in all areas. In particular, Pham Tuyen is like a 'historical museum in sound.' The country's major events are all imprinted in his music. He is also very good at composing about professions.”

“In the area of composing for children, it can be said that our musicians have created many very good songs. Pham Tuyen closely followed the growth of the children through music. He cherished the children from the time they were in their mother's arms, until they went to nursery school, kindergarten, first grade, joined the Team, gradually growing up, saying goodbye to the age of red scarves to 'Advance to the Youth Union'... It can be said that it is a musical encyclopedia of all situations, all levels of emotions in the children's spiritual world,” poet Tran Dang Khoa affirmed.

A place to continue and pass on humanistic values

The 6th season of 2025, launched on March 14, 2025, reviewed and evaluated 97 outstanding children's works composed and completed during the period of 2024 - 2025 (specifically, from January 1, 2024 - April 20, 2025).

These works come from two sources: One is from the authors who directly submit their entries; Two is from nominations from publishers and close collaborators of the Sports and Culture newspaper - writers, poets, artists, people who love children's art and always closely follow the latest creations.

Visitors admire the paintings of young artist Pham Hai Nguyen (13 years old) from Lang Son who was honored with the De Men Aspiration Award. (Photo: Mai Mai/Vietnam+)

From these works, through 2 rounds of judging, the Top 10 works, the best group of works were selected for the final round with the participation of many generations, from veteran authors such as musician Pham Tuyen, professional authors such as Pham Cong Luan, Dang Ngoc Hung, Dang Chuong Ngan... to new writers who compose for children but have already made their mark such as Nguyen Hoang Dieu Thuy, Vu Thi Thanh Tam, Ly Thang Long... Notably, young author Dy Duyen had 2 works in the final round.

Meanwhile, in terms of works, the 6th season of the De Men Children's Awards brings together the diversity of different literary and artistic genres such as literature, painting, and music. In which, literature dominates with 6 story collections and 2 poetry collections. Along with that is 1 comic book, 1 painting collection, and 1 music collection.

Poet Tran Dang Khoa, Chairman of the Jury, emphasized that the highlight of this year’s awards season was the honoring of a series of young, new authors writing for children. Three out of five winners of the De Men Aspiration Awards were young authors, new writers writing for children.

General Director of Vietnam News Agency Vu Viet Trang was moved to share after presenting the award to “Knight” Pham Tuyen: “The image of father and daughter, musician Pham Tuyen and his daughter, journalist Pham Hong Tuyen, on the De Men stage is a truly beautiful image. It is a continuation and transmission when at this Award, the music book Ve que - Khuc ho nhien cua be by the father and daughter entered the top 10 finalists of the Award. And I also see, in these days, the joy of his family is multiplied once again, when just recently, the 2 books Key to the world of children by his wife, Associate Professor, Doctor Nguyen Anh Tuyet, were also supplemented, renewed and republished by Pham Hong Tuyen's daughter.”

Vietnam News Agency General Director Vu Viet Trang was moved to honor "Knight" Pham Tuyen. (Photo: Mai Mai/Vietnam+)

VNA General Director Vu Viet Trang affirmed that these are priceless gifts that the “family” of Knight De Men sent to children, contributing to nurturing the souls of children.

“Since its inception, the De Men Awards have not only been an artistic playground, but also a place to foster imagination, compassion and dreams. Hopefully, each work honored today will not only stop at the award, but also be a companion to children throughout their innocent and creative childhood,” General Director Vu Viet Trang emphasized./.

In his monumental composing career spanning more than half a century, musician Pham Tuyen has left a deep mark in many genres, especially prominent with songs for children. With a pure, memorable musical style, close to the lives and souls of children, his songs such as Chiec den ong sao, Canh an tuoi tho, Truong chau la truong non, Chu voi con o Ban Don, Tien len doan vien ... have become classic children's songs of Vietnamese music, living forever in the memories of many generations of Vietnamese children.
In particular, in 2013, he set a record for "Musician who composed the most widely popular children's songs" recognized by the Vietnam Record Organization, as proof.