VietNamNet Bridge – Veteran writer Nguyen Nhat Anh’s books in Braille versions will be printed and released soon by Nguyen Dinh Chieu School for the Blind in Ha Noi to serve its students. 

Veteran author Nguyen Nhat Anh’s Cho Xin Mot Ve Di Ve Tuoi Tho sold more than 20,000 copies in the first weeks of its release in 2007. The book will soon be released in a Braille version produced by the Nguyen Dinh Chieu School for the Blind in Ha Noi. (Photo.Ibook.vn)

Anh visited the school and presented four of his books to the school.

His four best-selling children’s books, Cho Toi Xin Mot Ve Di Tuoi Tho (Give Me a Ticket Back to Childhood), Mat Biec (Blue Eyes), Bay Buoc Toi Mua He (Seven Steps to Summer) and Ngay Xua Co Mot Chuyen Tinh (The Past Love Story), will be published in Braille by the school’s teachers.

The writer said he would offer more his books to help the school produce more Braille books for its students.

Anh, who lives in HCM City, began writing in 1984 and is known for his simple style and insights about children.

He is one of the city’s few authors who write for children, and has penned many contemporary classics, including Kinh Van Hoa (Kaleidoscope) and Thang Quy Nho (The Mischievous Boy), which are favourites of thousands of children and teenagers around the country.

In 2007, Anh’s Cho Xin Mot Ve Di Ve Tuoi Tho sold more than 20,000 copies in the first weeks of its release. The book is about a city boy named Mui and his three friends. In 2010, it received the Southeast Asian Writers Award from Thailand’s royal family. 

The book has been translated into Thai and published by Thai-based publisher Nanmee Books.

Viet Nam has from 600,000 to 700,000 blind and visually impaired people, 70,000 of whom are children.      

The Viet Nam Blind Association prints Braille books with old printing machines that have very low productivity, and many associations in provinces still print Braille book by hand.

Several schools for blind children in big cities such as Ha Noi and HCM City produce Braille books and notebooks for their students.

These schools, funded by the State and local and foreign charities, have succeeded in teaching a small minority of the country’s blind how to read and write. However, the supply is well below what is needed. 

Source: VNS