New adventure books encourage kids to explore

‘Hip Hop in the Land of Ellsaby’ (left) and ‘Mr. Candy’ (right) are two new adventure books for children. — Photo courtesy of baotintuc.vn

HCM CITY — HCM City General Publishing House has released two adventure books that encourage children to explore and fantasise.

Ngài Kẹo (Mr Candy), the debut novel of 15-year-old author Quỳnh Trần, is the story of a young girl’s perilous and hesitant voyage.

It begins with the opening of the largest candy store in town, named “Candy shop – Best N Town” by Mr Candy, who sells candies for five cents each.

Children begin disappearing a week after Mr Candy moves in, and strange occurrences ensue. First Lucy, Frank, and Besty, then Michael, Jessica, Roy, and Homer, disappear without warning or a police officer being dispatched.

As suspicions increase, the main character, Wendy, begins to investigate Mr Candy’s shop for anomalies.

Quỳnh revealed that she authored the novel during social distancing last year.

The 15-year-old author also said that she hopes her book will inspire other young people to write their own stories.

She said: “Through the fantasy adventure stories in the book, I hope to provide children with the information essential to avoid wicked traps. In addition, this book represents my debut as an author and I wish to inspire a lot of children to write original and engaging stories.”

Hip Hop in the Land of Ellsaby by Vietnamese-German writer Isabelle Müller is a hopeful book with the message that everyone, especially kids, has anxieties, but even when you have reason to despair, you should never give up hope.

The story revolves around the deep bond of friendship between a dog named Titus and a little flea called Hip Hop. One day, Titus suddenly passes away. Hip Hop embarks on an adventure to the land of Ellsaby, where Titus is now, with the desire to see his friend just one more time to say goodbye.

The land of Ellsaby is strange as there is no sky. Instead, groups of bubbles that look like planets float about. Every species of animal goes here after passing away.

Hip Hop in the Land of Ellsaby has a very personal origin for Müller. She wrote and illustrated the book when she was living in a small German village in the south of the country. 

Everyone knew each other, and she witnessed how sad a girl was when her dog died. Twenty years later, she was still affected. 

Müller said she decided to write a story that she would read to this child later, as there was very little suitable children’s literature on the topics of “saying goodbye”, “mourning” and “death”.

Isabelle Müller donates books to children in difficult circumstances due to the pandemic in HCM City. — Photo courtesy of baotintuc.vn

All earnings from the copyright of Hip Hop in the Land of Ellsaby will be donated by the author to the LOAN Foundation (LOAN Stiftung) to help poor children in Việt Nam have a better life, according to Đinh Thị Thanh Thủy, Director of Hồ Chí Minh City General Publishing House.

Hip Hop in the Land of Ellsaby was published in Việt Nam in German, English, and Vietnamese. Under the Vietnamese translation by translator Trương Hồng Quang, the literary work promises to offer thrilling adventures to young readers. VNS