My mom and I have a particularly profound relationship with our beloved Mr. Chen Bochui and this very important children's literature prize.
The Chen Bochui International Children's Literature Award, founded by Mr. Chen Bochui, the predecessor of my most respected children's writer, has entered the 40th anniversary this year, and the whole 40 years of the process is so glorious and beautiful that it is worth our good review, revisiting and remembering! And my mom and I have a particularly profound relationship with our beloved Mr. Chen Bochui and this very important children's literature award.
Children's literature writers group photo front row from left: Huang Qingyun, Chen Bochui back row from left: Zhou Mimi, A nong
My mother, Huang Qingyun, and Mr. Chen Bochui are children's literature writers of the same generation, and can also be said to be comrades-in-arms of the same front. The children's literature works of Mr. Chen Bochui that I have read since childhood were introduced to me by my mother, and the more I read them, the more I liked them.
Zhou Mimi's mother, Huang Qingyun
At the beginning of the 1980s, when everything was in ruins, Mr. Chen Bochui took the lead and founded the Children's Literature Gardener Award in Shanghai, which was the predecessor of the Chen Bochui International Children's Literature Award, which greatly encouraged my mother and picked up the pen again to devote herself to creation.
The front row is from left to right: Chen Bochui, Huang Qingyun, Guo Feng, Jiang Feng, Ren Rongrong, and the two accompanying personnel in the back row
As a result, her children's poem "Cradle" won the first Chen Bochui Children's Literature Gardener Award in 1981:
"The blue sky is the cradle,
Shake the star baby.
White clouds drift softly,
Star Baby is asleep.
The sea is the cradle,
Shake the baby fish.
The waves gently turn,
The baby fish is asleep.
The garden is the cradle,
Shake the baby flowers.
The flowers blow softly,
Flower baby asleep.
Mom's hand is the cradle,
Shake the baby. ”
Since winning the award, the poem has been continuously disseminated in the mainland, Hong Kong, Macao and overseas, and many teachers and students have written to my mother, some of whom have proposed to compose it into songs. Later, I really did this, from poetry to song, singing all over the campus.
When I first met Mr. Chen Bochui, I was still a very young girl, and I felt that Mr. Chen was particularly amiable. I got married and went to work in Hong Kong, working as a screenwriter for a TV station and writing children's novels in my spare time. At that time, I had not yet aspired to be a children's literature writer. When a publishing house wanted to publish a collection of my children's novels, I asked Mr. Chen Bochui to write a preface to this "debut work", and the beloved Mr. Chen immediately agreed, and soon sent him a preface written by himself, which made me very touched and even more encouraged!
Zhou Mimi
Elder Chen wrote in the preface:
"In the world of children's literature, there is a 'new land' and sending Zhou Mimi's works from Hong Kong, how can it not be gratifying." While reading and admiring, I can appreciate these works, which have a strong local color and a unique scenery of Hong Kong. Needless to say, if you read it, you will feel that the work has another flavor. These short stories, published in a collection, can make it beneficial for young readers to open the book and be moved. ”
Every word and every sentence of this is full of Lao Chen's affirmation and encouragement to me! At that time, I was not sure whether to follow the path of children's literature creation, and I had great guidance and lessons.
As a result, I began to devote myself wholeheartedly to the creation of children's literature, and my works have won the Hong Kong Best Children's Story Creation Award in the 1980s, the Children's Literature Biennial Award, the Zhang Tianyi Fairy Tale Award, the Bingxin Children's Literature Award, and so on. If it were not for the teachings and encouragement of the beloved Elder Chen, I would not have come to this day.
Zhou Mimi (fourth from the right)
The most memorable is that in 2019, I was invited to participate in the jury work of the Chen Bochui International Children's Literature Award. From the moment I flew to the land of Shanghai, my mind constantly came up with the loving face of Chen Lao, and I was very glad that I could witness the rapid development of the Chen Bochui International Children's Literature Award - from Shanghai to the world, it has cultivated generations of outstanding children's literature writers, and also opened up a broad road to connect with the world!
Now, I think, we can all say goodbye to the beloved Mr. Chen Bochui! (Chow Mi Mi, Hong Kong)