Children's book market: Lack of works that attract readers

In the preliminary report on the activities of the first 6 months of 2025 at Ho Chi Minh City Book Street, a notable information given by Mr. Le Hoang, Director of Ho Chi Minh City Book Street, is the decline in the children's book segment (in terms of quantity and revenue) lasting from 2023.

Children participating in the Reading Culture Ambassador contest 2025 organized by the Ho Chi Minh City General Science Library

Behind the numbers

Revenue from children's books in the first 6 months of 2025 at Ho Chi Minh City Book Street only reached 3.98 billion VND, down 12.75% compared to the same period in 2024. Meanwhile, the number of children's books sold reached 73,113 books, up 1% compared to the same period in 2024. According to Mr. Le Hoang, the number of books sold increased but revenue decreased sharply because the books sold were mainly in the group of books in stock or sold at preferential prices, deep discounts. This is the second consecutive year of decline. In 2023, sales of children's books at Ho Chi Minh City Book Street reached 4.61 billion VND with 115,169 copies sold.

Thus, after two years, the decrease has reached nearly 36.5% in the number of books sold and the revenue has decreased by 13.7%. “Although the above data is only in Ho Chi Minh City Book Street, it does not represent the entire book market, but it has necessary reference value. Because in the Book Street, there are two largest children's book publishers in the country, Tre Publishing House and Kim Dong Publishing House, along with many non-specialized publishers but also have a large number of children's books such as Ho Chi Minh City General Publishing House, Vietnam Women's Publishing House, Phuong Nam Books, Thai Ha Books, Dong A", Mr. Le Hoang shared.

Sharing this view, writer Van Thanh Le, Director of Kim Dong Publishing House branch in Ho Chi Minh City, said that although the business figures at Ho Chi Minh City Book Street are extremely small compared to the overall picture of the entire book industry, they somewhat reflect the general situation in the publishing work. “In the first 6 months of 2025, the publishing sales of Kim Dong Publishing House were not as expected. There are many reasons, such as the unfavorable economic situation, affecting the demand for books, but the main reason is probably that we still do not have works that have made a big impact, enough to influence people's psychology of buying books,” writer Van Thanh Le noted.

Regarding the issue in the publishing sector, Ms. Pham Thi Hoa, Deputy General Director of Ho Chi Minh City Book Distribution Joint Stock Company (Fahasa), said that children's books always play an important role in the book market. In the first 6 months of 2025 alone, Fahasa's children's book revenue increased by 15% compared to the same period in 2024 and currently accounts for about 20% of Fahasa's total book revenue. "Many children's books are on Fahasa's bestseller list, but most of them are still books that have been published for a long time, typically the book Blue Lotus (Kim Dong Publishing House) has sold nearly 100,000 copies at Fahasa bookstores," Ms. Pham Thi Hoa added.

Promote reading promotion activities

It is a fact that in recent years, the domestic children's book market has had many positive changes. Not only has it attracted a large number of writers, but the publications have also been carefully crafted, eye-catching, and meet the needs and tastes of children. However, there are still many concerns that children's books have not kept up with the reading needs of children today.

Huynh Anh Thu (15 years old), Ambassador of Reading Culture of Ho Chi Minh City for the term 2024-2025, said that children's books have been wearing new colors that are more suitable to the needs of children in all fields, such as movie and pop-up books (3D books). "However, the number of books about artificial intelligence (AI) - a powerful digital tool in today's era, is still limited. Our wish is to have more authors combined with researchers and experts to bring classes about AI through the pages of books," Anh Thu shared.

To increase children's books, according to Mr. Le Hoang, one of the fundamental solutions is to help children form the habit of reading from an early age. "The Vietnam Publishing Association has recommended to the Ministry of Education and Training to include reading time in the official curriculum, so that children have reading time every week. There, they will learn how to read most effectively, both for entertainment and for learning. In developed countries, the high annual reading rate per capita comes from the good organization of reading in schools," Mr. Le Hoang concluded.

“Looking at the participation of many publishing units in making children's books and specifically on each publication, I think that the domestic children's book sector is on the right track, and together with translated books, it has increasingly met the needs of readers. What we expect is to have truly outstanding works that create a widespread reading effect among young readers. That will be an important foundation for Vietnamese children's books to affirm their place in the hearts of readers,” said writer Van Thanh Le, Director of Kim Dong Publishing House branch in Ho Chi Minh City.

HO SON

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/thi-truong-sach-thieu-nhi-thieu-tac-pham-hap-dan-doc-gia-post806752.html