On the dreamy vegetable field

From the vegetable fields at Cuc Cu farm - Photo: Kim Dong Publishing House

This is not a new story. In recent years, more and more domestic publishers have invested in the art of their publications, especially children's books. They not only target young readers but also seek adult readers.

Open books to welcome summer

From the vegetable fields at Cuc Cu farm (Kim Dong Publishing House) by Dy Duyen is a gentle, cute work for children. Suitable for the beginning of June with International Children's Day approaching. Especially choosing to start with a work that is presented in an eye-catching way like this children's book.

More than 200 large-format, color printed pages with vivid illustrations by Dom Dom (artist name of artist Vu Thuy Ngoc Ha). This is Dy Duyen's third children's work collaborating with Kim Dong Publishing House. In Cuc Dai and Tia Nang and Those things you use to fill a hole all have collaborations with domestic illustrators.

Creating quality prints with artistic investment. This is a strong point in the current era when parents and readers demand that domestically published children's books not only have valuable content but also be neat in form.

In Vietnam, the role of the illustrator in a children's book publication is becoming more and more important.

Sometimes the first visual impression plays a big part in whether readers pay attention to a book or not. Especially books by domestic authors, which do not have many advantages in terms of communication, are often hidden among the vast array of books on the shelves of bookstores.

Observing the domestic publishing market in recent times, we see the increasing presence of impressive and beautiful children's works, serving the reading needs of students during the summer vacation.

At the same time, we can see the professionalism in the target audience orientation and age distinction. This makes it easier for parents to choose books for their children.

Author Dy Duyen herself published two works almost at the same time in the summer of 2025: Things You Use to Fill a Hole and From the Vegetable Fields at Cuc Cu Farm, but they were not designed as a duo but had big differences in the work's capacity, illustration presentation, book size...

Kim Dong Publishing House also released the English version of Things You Use to Fill a Hole in parallel with the title Things You Use to Fill a Hole. This proves that each work has its own "strategy" for release and therefore, not only is it not scattered, but it is more focused. It can be said to be more effective.

Both The Things You Use to Fill a Hole and From the Vegetable Fields of Cuc Cu Farm are finalists for the 6th De Men Children's Award 2026.

Poetic world

Bats are often associated with negative stereotypes in literature. Partly because they look neither bird nor mouse, and partly because their nocturnal behavior has been reinforced by horror novelists with the image of vampires with the ability to transform into bats and terrifying fangs.

The bat - the main character in From the vegetable fields at Cuc Cu farm will make that prejudiced image fade away somewhat. Let's call him by his right name, Worm Bat. That name comes from the fact that one day in the vegetable fields at the farm, next to the flock of ducks whose job is to catch insects that destroy crops, people saw a black, out-of-place bat appear.

And this book is the journey of that bat, wanting to prove to the ducks and everyone else that he is not only not a pest but also useful.

At first glance, the plot seems simple, but there are many "ghosts" surrounding this Cuckoo farm. It is a story of accepting differences, a nursery rhyme praising labor on the background of relationships between animals that seem unrelated to each other.

If there is anything that makes the writer of this article hesitate with From the vegetable fields at Cuc Cu farm, it is the natural scenery and character creation in this work that make the reader feel that if they did not look at the cover, they would think this is the work of a foreign writer.

But that's okay! I still think that children on this Earth all live in the same dream world, speaking the same language of fairy tales. Regardless of language or skin color.

Southern Forest Land reprint - Photo: Kim Dong Publishing House

Investment in fine art is not only for newly published children's works. In recent years, classic Vietnamese children's works have also been republished with elaborate illustrations.

We can mention The Adventures of Men the Cricket (To Hoai) illustrated by Ta Huy Long.

Recently, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary (1925-2025) of writer Doan Gioi's birth, the work Southern Forest Land was also republished with carefully illustrated illustrations.

Besides Southern Forest Land, this time Kim Dong Publishing House also republished many works by Doan Gioi such as

The Quest for the Arsenal, The Old Sailor on the Exiled Island, The Rhinoceros in the Green Forest, Strange Tales of Fish, The Rustling Night Forest, The Grouper, The Sunflower.

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HUYNH TRONG KHANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tren-ruong-rau-mo-mong-20250525094818319.htm