Teaching Vietnamese history through English books
The history books in English do not only teach children a basic knowledge of Vietnamese history but also inspire them with patriotism and national pride.
Publishers in Vietnam are embracing the creative teaching of history to children. Books with inspiring stories, stunning presentations, and accurate, easy-to-understand English will be useful for both children in Vietnam and those with Vietnamese child expatriates.
| The historical book of A Brief History of Vietnam in Pictures by Kim Dong Publishing House. Photo: Fahasa.com |
Kim Dong Publishing House has just launched an impressive bilingual Vietnamese - English book titled Luoc su nuoc Viet Bang Tranh or Vietnam - A Brief History of Vietnam in Pictures.
Encapsulating the nation’s history in 89 pages, the book is presented in picture format with fine illustration displayed in the panorama. The publication summarizes the most important milestones in Vietnam's history, from the dawn of the nation's history until 1986 when the nation implemented “Doi moi”- a fundamental economic reform.
According to local experts, the book has informative and carefully selected content with eye-catching illustrations.
Ta Huy Long is a famous painter for kid’s comics and historical illustration books in Vietnam. The publication marked another achievement of the artist in particular and the Kim Dong Publishing House in general in the field of historical book creation.
“By reading this book, young readers will better understand how the relentless older Vietnamese generations have overcome historical challenges. They will therefore have a keener sense of responsibility to contribute to the country’s development in the future,” historian Duong Trung Quoc stated.
| The cover of the book A Brief History of Vietnam in Pictures. Photo: Kim Dong Publishing House |
Meanwhile, the HCMC-based Young Publishing House has introduced two series of historical comics for kids called Lich su Vietnam bang tranh and A History of Vietnam in Pictures. Each collection consists of eight books, the former is written in Vietnamese and the latter in English.
“The English translation was done by the British-Vietnamese duo Patrick and Mai Barry under the requirement to maintain a natural style of storytelling in English whilst staying faithful to the original Vietnamese content,” according to the Publishing House.
The newly-released books are a facelift to a namesake original black and white collection first published in 1997 in the hope of developing a new approach for children's history books through pictures. These books were renewed with colored pictures by Nguyen Thuy Linh and her co-workers from HCMC.
| The book collection of A History of Vietnam in Pictures by Young Publishing House. Photo: Fahasa.com |
“We have already had a lot of Vietnamese history books in texts while there had not been many books in pictures. It was tough at the beginning, but now we have achieved what we set out for. Together we will bring the stories of Vietnamese history to more Vietnamese children, not just in Vietnam but everywhere in the world,” a representative from the books’ production team told The Hanoi Times.
The collection of English books features eight books which are Born of Dragons and Fairies; The Trung Sisters, Ngo Quyen Defeats the Southern Han Army, Emperor Le Dai Hanh, The Dawn of Thang Long, Ly Thuong Kiet, The Second Victory against the Mongols, and The Lam Son Uprising.
These wonderful historical books for children can be bought at bookstores of Fahasa, Youth Publishing House, Kim Dong Publishing House, Ca Chep, and Phuong Nam across Vietnam and also through e-commerce sites such as Tiki, Fahasa Online, and Shopee.
