Meeting Guaiguaidou is an adventure for me

by Xiao Huilei， China Peace Publishing House

Brief introduction：

The protagonist of the story is a boy who is a little well-behaved and naughty， and his name is Guaiguaidou. He accidentally met the Green Tree Monster and became a guest in a mysterious tree house. He had a witch neighbor who could fly in the air with an invisible vacuum cleaner， and can teach him a foreign language. The hamster he raised suddenly possessed magic powers and helped him persuade his parents to allow him to attend the summer camp. When he was traveling， he found an old wooden box in which elves lived and had the exact appearance of him ... This series of small adventures not only depicted the mischief and secrets of Guaiguaidou but also showed his growth and becoming sensible. No serious preaching is seen in the book but only convincing truth. What is recorded in the plain words is an easy life that can make people smile.

It is a happy and fortuitous event for me to connect with Guaiguaidou.

Strictly speaking， The Adventures of Guaiguaidou is the first collection that I came to China Peace Publishing House to edit. I remember that at that time， my boss gave me a kraft paper bag. When I opened it， I found a thick stack of manuscript paper： it was Zhang Qiusheng’s manuscript. That gave me a subtle sense of satisfaction. Perhaps because of my feelings when I was a student， I had an obsession with the writer’s manuscripts that I couldn’t even explain myself. Each page of the manuscript paper was full of words. There were also traces of various changes that were made by a red pen and a pencil. Words were carefully chosen and every part was written with great care. Accustomed to the boxy words on the computer screen， I immediately felt inspired by the words when I suddenly came into contact with such a manuscript. My heart was full of respect despite the fact that the work had not yet begun.

After reading the manuscript， I closed my eyes and tried to outline the profile of Guaiguaidou， only to recall my old days as a child： I was told to write new characters five times， add pinyin to them， and form three phrases with them. At that time， I always had to spend a long time writing new characters because I couldn’t write adeptly; when doing application exercises， I always accidentally fall into the trap of the questions， and there were also many things every primary school student couldn’t get around， such as Chicken and Rabbit Question; as well as the messy room， the inexplicably missing stationery， and the constantly chatty mother. I felt like every child in the world had the same parents …

How did this happen？ I picked up the manuscript again and read it over and over again. I always felt a touch of familiarity in my heart. I felt these stories really happened around us， and that Guaiguaidou was a child among us. I even wondered if I should meet this Guaiguaidou. Later， I learned that the prototypes of the characters in the book were Zhang Qiusheng’s little grandson and his classmates. This series of stories recorded what happened to this group of children at their kindergarten and primary school.

So that’s what it was！ With that answer to the question， I liked the character of Guaiguaidou even more， and also wanted more children to know him. So， what should Guaiguaidou look like？ I invited many painters to paint Guaiguaidou： Guaiguaidou with curly hair， with a grin， or sitting at his desk and studying hard. In the end， I took a fancy to the Guaiguaidou who wore suspender trousers and a hat with the brim facing back. He leaned forward and touched the elf’s face with his fingers as if to confirm whether it was true. His clever eyes were full of curiosity and desire to explore the unknown.

I printed out the confirmed image of Guaiguaidou and sent it to Zhang Qiusheng， which approved him. He put forward some suggestions： this Guaiguaidou could be naughtier. My personal understanding was that the “director” had chosen the role， but he needed that role to take a screen test with an expression. Looking at the final version of" The Adventures of Guaiguaidou， I could not help but raise the corners of my mouth and silently said in my heart， “Hello， Guaiguaidou！ Welcome to this world！ “

In editing this collection， a majority part of my work was about communication with the painter. Although this story was not long， we specifically provided 30 illustrations for each story to enhance the interest and vividness of the book for young readers. The painter for Guaiguaidou had been a chief writer of a comic book company， possessing rich experience in illustrating books for children. In designing the location and content expression of the illustrations， the painter had his ideas while I also had my understanding. Without ideas combined， splendid results came. The interaction and communication with the painter was a process of mutual adaptation and collaboration， endeavoring to make the work better. Fortunately， in this process， I grew up. This was a personal change that I made when I put in serious effort for this book.

It was worth mentioning that the cover design of this collection was inspired by the works of an international illustration contest. Taking Guaiguaidou as the subject， the painter broke the story into pieces and put them in order， with a unique mysterious atmosphere and strong contemporary aura. This was a set of covers that I was very satisfied with， and I was also very grateful to the painter who still created such good work with passion after going through countless revisions in the creation of the illustrations.

The Adventures of Guaiguaidou is a new fairy tale created by Zhang Qiusheng， the magical grandfather， based on real events. It was based on reality， taking growth as its ending point. It attached importance to learning， paying attention to the pressure of schoolwork; it advocated doing one’s jobs on one’s own， paying attention to the development of good habits; it cultivated the ability to accept setbacks， telling us what to do if we fail in what we are good at. The problems of Guaiguaidou always arose in my mind from time to time when I was on the subway or a bus， and many other times when I was not at work. I thought about how I overcame these problems when I was a child more than once， and seriously thought about how my children would deal with these problems when they go to primary school. At work， I grew up with Guaiguaidou when I am off work， Guaiguaidou supervises me when I guide my children to solve all kinds of problems that arise in their lives. Maybe this is the charm of Guaiguaidou！ It is not only of educational significance to children but also of great help to their parents. No criticism or preaching， it leads readers to know themselves， and lets children spontaneously think about what is right and wrong. If they know how to self-reflect， they will grow.

This is the story about me and Guaiguaidou. Taking away the magic power， he and I try to grow up in our respective worlds. It is not the magic power that maintains our relationship， but the good and self-motivated heart that we both have. I hope you will also like this diligent Guaiguaidou！

The Adventures

of Guaiguaidou

Zhang Qiusheng

China Peace Publishing House

November 2019

18.00 （CNY）

Zhang Qiusheng

Zhang Qiusheng is a member of the China Writers Association and has served as editor-in-chief of Juvenile Daily and chief editor of Fairy Tale News. He has been engaged in the creation of children’s poems， fairy tales， and prose for a long time. More than 20 of his works have been included in Chinese textbooks， and he has become one of the top ten writers in Chinese textbooks. He has written over 100 works， including Zhang Qiusheng Magic Fairy Tales， Little Palm Fairy Tale， Red Ghost and Blue Ghost in the Forest， Rose Flower in Campus， Witch Listening to Music on Broom， Dog Daddy and Cat Son， Dinosaur Raised by Mouse， and so on. He has won the National Outstanding Children’s Literature Award of the China Writers Association， the Song Ching Ling Children’s Literature Award， the Bing Xin Literature Award， the Chen Bochui International Children’s Literature Award， the Zhang Tianyi Fairy Fable Award， and the Yang Huan Literature Award in Taiwan of China.