Jun Pham hopes more children read books at the right age

Hello Jun Pham, what meaning and hope does “The Land of Endless Wonders” have for you?

- The story in “The Land of Endless Wonders” is fictional, but the adventure into the fairy world was inspired and materialized by the things around me. My mother’s old teapot, memories with my father or emotions when participating in the program “Scars of Life”... All of those things urged me to create this book, as a beautiful memory after 10 years of writing the first book, along with unforgettable regrets when the time to launch the book was when my father suddenly passed away. The character of Cuoi in the book was created by me based on the image and personality of my father. Even the bitter melon trellis in the book coincidentally resembles the bitter melon trellis that my father planted before he passed away. If we look at it positively, my father’s departure was a peaceful thing. Just like the way Cuoi escaped from the Teapot, my father also gently escaped from the memories of my mother in the old house.

Incidents make people more mature. Loss is inevitable in life, what we receive from it is also a very important duty. When “The Land of the Endless” was completed, it was also the time when I was forced to say goodbye to the person I loved most in my life. But everyone must continue their life and missions. The journey of “The Land of the Endless” is clear and lovely, like a memory box that gently soothes and comforts, making me love this life even more.

Jun Pham took souvenir photos with readers. (Photo provided by the character)

Was this book inspired by your late father?

- My father is just one of my inspirations, not all of them, he is 10%, the rest are other people around my life. This is a more colorful story. I am only 34 years old but I feel old and my mind is more inclined towards family, I like children more, that is why I publish books for children.

You have just returned to writing books after 10 years and the children's book genre is completely new, did you encounter any difficulties?

- Any project we do for the first time has its own difficulties. Difficulties are challenges for us to overcome. For me, every job is like an adventure, it is difficult but I have 2 years to explore myself so I feel very happy. This book originated from an order from my sister, Actress - Director Ngo Thanh Van, who needed a script for a children's film, but when I finished writing, I did not have enough money to invest in making the film, because making a children's film requires special effects, which costs more than films for adults. When I could not make the film, I developed it into a book.

Singer Jun Pham at the premiere of “Xu so mien van”. (Photo provided by the character)

You are not married and have never been a father. What material made you dare to write a book for children?

- Many people think that children must be ignorant. To me, this thinking is wrong. I think that whether you are a parent, a grandparent or anything great, you will have imagination like a child. Albert Einstein has a great saying: "Knowledge is never equal to imagination", knowledge can help you go from point A to B but imagination can help you go everywhere. If you do not have a child's soul, no one can do anything. Because only a child's soul can create many things from many perspectives of thinking and have depth. If you are not creative, this world will stop. The same goes for me, if I do not create a day like: arranging a vase of flowers, cooking another dish, it will make me bored.

Children's books only account for a small market share, because many people think that this genre does not have much material to exploit. What do you think about this?

- Generally speaking, in the Vietnamese market, any book is difficult because the reading culture is fading. I myself do not write books to make money. If I wanted to make money, I would do many other jobs to make more money. Writing books is my dream, my passion and I cannot stop when I have free time. When I write, I dream that my books will be on the shelves, that is the reason my books are published. If we talk about writing books to make money, surely those in the book industry will understand, you can never make a living from books, even Mr. Nguyen Nhat Anh still has other businesses, because the reading market in our country is getting lower and lower. I published "The Endless Land" as a children's book, because I hope more children will read and read books that are appropriate for their age. My book is just a gentle adventure, when children are willing to venture into my land, they will certainly be willing to venture into other, more complex and wonderful lands of other writers.

Young readers buy books to support Jun Pham. (Photo provided by character)

In this book, is there any part that you like the most?

- I like the chapter “The Moon in the Teapot” the most, changing the main character’s point of view, helping the main character shrink to the right age, overcoming the final challenge to save his daughter. Now, if I say too much, I will know everything, I hope everyone will read and understand what I confide.

After this book, do you plan to release any more books in the future?

- I jokingly say that books that sell well will be written, but as I shared, books cannot sell well, books only have their own life cycle. But writing does not depend on money, books are like my passion. I have written the next book, but I dare not promise when it will be released, like this book I promised to release in June last year but it is only out now, if I promise too much I will not be able to keep it. I just hope that I will have energy in the near future, because with energy I can write quickly.

Thank you for this chat!

"The Land of Endless Wonders" has achieved several records such as:

- All books on the first sale were sold out on the Shopee platform just 2 hours after opening the link.

- The book has a special edition that SOLD OUT FIRST on 2 platforms Tiki and Shopee.

- More than 6.3M hashtag #xusomienman on TikTok platform after release date.

- The book ranked Top search on Google with 19,700,000 results in just 0.27 seconds.

Performed by Lam Khanh

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