Artist Tove Krebs Lange, Two Horizons - One Dream
For 10 years straight, Tove Krebs Lange, a Danish artist with a great love for Vietnam, traveled between the two countries to help Vietnam build a team of writers and illustrators for children's books. With the support of Lange and the Danish embassy, the role and position of children's literature in Vietnam has been increasingly affirmed.
Sharing her emotions when first coming to Vietnam in 2005, Lange said, "I loved this country from the first day. In the first five years in Vietnam, I and my colleagues at Kim Dong Publishing House traveled to remote areas of Vietnam. Every school I visited, I saw the joy of the children when they received new books".
Le Thi Dat, former Editor-in-Chief of Kim Dong Publishing House, who was the first to accompany Lange in the project "Supporting Children's Literature in Vietnam - Denmark," said, "Rarely do you see a woman who has dedicated so much love to children like Tove Krebs Lange. She is always burning with the passion and the desire to bring to a child's world stories of life and dreams of a peaceful world".
During the implementation of the project, Lange and Kim Dong Publishing House organized eight campaigns and established 15 children's writing and drawing clubs in various provinces and cities. Kim Dong Publishing House also published over 300,000 books per year. After 10 years of this project, Vietnam has formed a large team of children's book writers and illustrators (34 people) with more than 100 award-winning books. This project is a wonderful gift that Danish writers dedicated to Vietnamese children.
Lange was one of the pioneers who introduced the fantasy genre to Vietnam. Her collaboration with Kim Dong Publishing House has brought about a change in the mindset of children's literature, in which illustration is as an equally important component as writing.
Illustration is now no longer just an add-on, but an essential part of a children's book.
As a member of the judging panel for the children's literature writing campaign in Vietnam, Lange served as an expert on the writing skills for Vietnamese authors and illustrators. Together with a team of young Vietnamese writers, she traveled to many regions of Vietnam to teach authors and illustrators how to work collaboratively and develop illustrations for stories to create books that children would love. Some of the project's books have been published and won awards, including "The Origins of Dreams," "A Journey," "Ears that Won't Sleep," "The World's Best Fairy Tales," "Homeland Tet Festival”, “A Special Gift” and "A Bow Ties the Whole World Together".
Minh Ly, an editor at Kim Dong Publishing House, who was mentored by the artist from the early days of the project, said, "The artist has created a new direction for Vietnamese writers, inspiring and conveying love for children through the pages of their books. She has unlocked creative thinking for a team of young Vietnamese writers". After the project, for Ly personally, she also organized the drafting and printing of 20 books from collaborators who participated in the project.
In 2022, to commemorate 50 years of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Denmark, Lange introduced Vietnamese readers to the comic book "A Journey to The Fairy World”. The book has helped Vietnamese children gain a clearer perspective on the fairy tale world, guiding their souls towards kindness and humanity. Nicolai Prytz, Danish Ambassador to Vietnam, said, "I hope that the beautiful illustrations and interesting stories of Tove Krebs Lange will interest not only children but also adults, leading viewers through fairytales that most of us have known since we were little. This is a wonderful gift that Tove Krebs Lange has given to Vietnamese readers".
Story: Bich Van/VNP Photos: Cong Dat Translated by Hong Hanh