Hanoi (VNA) – Chairman of the Vienam Writers Association said that literature plays an important role in educating children. Winners of the 2021 “De Men” (Cricket) Award for Children were announced at on June 1 on the occasion of International Children’s Day.

This is the second edition of the award, which was held last year for the first time by the Vietnam News Agency’s The Thao & Van Hoa (Sports & Culture) newspaper.

It received 120 entries – 20 more than in the first edition, 16 of which made to the finale, including eight literary and two fine arts works, three movies and three music pieces.

The judging panel could not determine a winner of the major “Cricket Knight” prize, so instead decided to grant five “Cricket Desire” awards instead of four.

The five winning works were the novel “Di tron” (Seeking shelter) by writer Binh Ca; the cartoon “Khuc go muc” (A rotten log) directed by People’s Artist Nguyen Thi Phuong Hoa, inspired by a series of paintings on nature and life by a 14-year-old painter Xeo Chu; the comic “Ly & Chun - Tet la nhat, nhat la Tet” (Ly & Chun - Tet is the best) by Meo Moc; and a series♛ of stories “Khac biet moi tuyet lam sao” (How great is the difference) by Nguyen Hoang Vu and artists from Ga’s Little World.

Awards encourage a love of reading

Experts said that many quality works have competed for this year’s awards. Chairman of the Jury, poet Tran Dang Khoa said that this is a positive signal as the number of entries is quite large.

“Di tron”  (Seeking shelter) by writer Binh Ca opens with a memory of childhood during the war and the second part retells a survival adventure like "In Desert and Wilderness”,  a popular  by Polish author and -winning novelist , written in 1911.

“Khuc go muc” was inspired by a series of paintings by Xeo Chu, the smallest winner this year, which depict life and nature through the lens of a pure and naive child. The meaning of the film is interesting and profound, it is the affection of adults with the young. The film's profound human meaning has won heart of the jury. President of the Vietnam Writers' Association, poet Nguyen Quang Thieu said he was moved when he watched "Rotten Log." Thieu said he believes that the Cricket Award has opened a sense of responsibility in creating literature for children. This is an important type of literature, which plays an important role in providing education for children and encouraging a love of reading among them.

Works for children need to be more attractive

President of the Vietnam Writers' Association Nguyen Quang Thieu said that all entries for the awards focus on good things, delivering moral and educational lessons for children. However, he said, what is needed is literary and artistic quality in the works.

Named after the main character in the famous Vietnamese children's story De Men Phieu Luu Ky (Diary of a Cricket) by To Hoai, the annual non-profit awards are presented to excellent composes, art performances and entertainment programmes created by children themselves or for children.

The awards comprise one grand prize named “Cricket Knight” and several other awards called “Cricket Desire”.

The awards honours works that meet either of these two criteria: compositions, art performances and entertainment programmes by children or composers, art performances and entertainment programmes for children. International authors with works created for Vietnamese children are also eligible.

The entries can be in one of several forms like literature, cinema, music, arts, theatre, photography, comic, traditional games or electr꧋onic games./.