"Flying days" is the English title of a Chinese children's book, which is illustrated by Danish and Chinese children. A box of books has just arrived in Funen, and on Thursday, 24th of February at 10 a.m., the children-cartoonists in the daycare institution ‘Børnehuset Skoven’ will each receive a signed copy as a thank you for their help.

In summer 2021children from ‘Børnehuset Skoven’ drew and painted motifs by H.C. Andersen, fairy tales, and Christmas motifs. It happened at the request of the Chinese screenwriter Meng Xianming, who in 2018 participated in a course at Nordfyns Højskole and subsequently took the initiative to produce a film about a budding friendship between two six-year-old girls Amy from Denmark and Yue Yue from China.

A Chinese publishing editor saw the 90-minute film "YueYue is coming to Denmark" and suggested Meng Xianming make the film into a book. As said so done and Meng decided that all illustrations should be done by children.

 

Drawings in the open air

According to the pedagogues at ‘Børnehuset Skoven’, the Christmas motifs were a little difficult for the children to recreate in June, whereas there was plenty of inspiration to be found at the H.C. Andersen statue and the large paper clips of H.C. Andersen at "boxen" at Nordfyn’s Golf Club in Bogense. The pedagogues took the children on a trip outdoors and told fairy tales while the children sat on benches and in the grass drawing and painting. Next, 30 drawings were sent to Beijing.

 

Great reviews

The book was published in China before Christmas and has received good reviews. Eg. says Chinese poet and children's book author Xu Lu that "Flying Days" expresses a poetic childlike innocence and is a great tribute to the fairy tale poet H.C. Andersen and his "childhood spirit”.

 

The book takes place in both China and Denmark - primarily North Funen and is about Yueyue's thoughts, her meeting with Denmark and Amy from Bogense, North Funen. The Danish and Chinese culture is presented via Yueyue's thoughts and especially the many questions that she asks her mother. In fact, the book is based on 14 questions, which are viewed from a child's perspective. H.C. Andersen plays a rather significant role - Yueyue has a hard time coming to terms with the fact that the fairy tale poet is dead.

 

About Meng Xianming

Behind the book - and the 90-minute film is screenwriter Meng Xianming - known and respected for a number of award-winning book releases and films both in China and internationally. Among other things, he has won several international awards for his children's film "Reading boy".

Meng Xianming participated in a two-week course at Nordfyns Højskole in 2018. He has a lifelong love and admiration for H. C. Andersen and became so enthusiastic about Funen and Denmark that he immediately after wrote a script about the two girls. In November-December 2018, he returned with a film crew, and within three months, the film was shot on Funen and in Zhengzhou, China.

 

About the film

The film "Yueyue is coming to Denmark" is about the two girls Yueyue and Amy, who meet in ‘Børnehuset Skoven’ in Bogense, become friends and together celebrate Christmas on Funen, Denmark and Chinese New Year in Zhengzhou, China. The film is finished, but public viewing has been a long time coming, and it is still awaiting official approvals from Chinese authorities. Before release, it has to be approved firstly on regionally level, and then by national film authorities.

 

Text in and on the back of the book:

On the backside of the book and on the flap in the back of the book is a Chinese text that we have experimentally translated into English:
 

Countries are different, language is not the same.

Two six-year-old girls became a very special couple of friends.

Christmas in Denmark, New Year in China.

Friendship and understanding.

Beautiful and touching.

Days that fly give a vibrant color to the two-colored clouds just before the sun rises.

 

It's the wind that makes the snow fly

It's the clouds that make the wind fly

It's you that makes me fly

It's my heart that makes you fly