全球童书出版领域最有影响力的奖项之一——博洛尼亚国际儿童书展最佳童书奖2019年度获奖名单近日揭晓。来自浙江海宁的90后插画师丰风创作的《珠穆朗玛峰》榜上有名，获得了新人奖的特别提名奖。

        笔者辗转联系上了相隔12个时差的丰风。对于获奖，她觉得非常意外，“我完全不知道我的出版社投了稿，也完全没料到我会拿奖，还想着可能五六十岁的时候才会拿吧，没想过会在这个年纪获得。”

拿下新人奖，意外且感动

        自1964年至今，50年来，博洛尼亚国际童书展最佳童书奖一直是全球儿童出版界最受瞩目的奖项之一，分为虚构类、非虚构类和新人奖三个类别，其中，新人奖颁发给首次参与评选的作家和插画家。

        今年的博洛尼亚国际童书展最佳童书奖共收到全球来自43个国家和地区的1558件作品，相比去年增加了100多本，最终只有19本童书获奖。

在中国绘本界，每年都有出版社投稿参赛，但由中国插画师创作并拿到最佳童书奖的，丰风还是头一个，她说：“第一次参加就拿了新人奖，说明自己这本书做的还可以，这个过程是蛮感动的。”

        丰风本科毕业于中国美术学院动画（插画与漫画）专业，2012年赴美国马里兰艺术学院插画系（MICA）读研究生，于2014年硕士毕业，现居纽约，从事自由插画师职业。

        《珠穆朗玛峰》究竟是一本怎样的书呢？

        有评委点评：“这是一部非常杰出的平面设计作品，既结合了现代的版式和图像，又在着色、渲染绘画和印刷上参考了过去的风格。”

        丰风说，书本介绍了中国珠穆朗玛峰周边，从古至今的一些人文地理，以及动植物、神话故事，是非常全面的一本科普读物。这本书的结构，是从山脚讲到山顶，以海拔线的方式去剖析每一个的场面。比如说，到了雪线（高山上积雪的最低海拔高度），环境是什么样子的，然后横向地再去剖析雪线周围的动物、植被。

        “这是一本适合8岁至12岁的孩子去阅读的、文字量相对较大的一本书。”丰风承担了插画的设计，“插画是作为科普的必要存在，把文字转化成图像，同时又通过我的理解，把设计和美带给阅读的小朋友。”

        这次《珠穆朗玛峰》，是丰风第一次跟她最喜欢的一家英国出版社合作。

        丰风介绍，这家出版社以前做独立出版，在书装上不遗余力，对于草稿的轮次、审稿，还有关于定稿，都有很清晰的思路。

童书是朋友，而不是说教

        在国内，丰风也出版过《童》《打个盹》《四重奏》《一个人的博物馆》等书籍。谈到与国内外出版社合作中的差别，她感触很深。

        “最主要是工作方式上的区别吧。国内的绘本市场还在发展中，没有形成成熟的创作体系，给插画师的创作时间压得非常紧。在英美这些国家，他们的插画和绘本已经发展了至少一两百年了，早已形成一定的行业规范，当地出版社也喜欢选择那些不是专门画童书的作者来创作，会有更加灵动的碰撞，美学设计也会比较超前。”

        此外，在故事的走向上，国内外绘本也特别不一样。国外会更加大胆一些。事实上，在国外，很多童书都是给大人看的，因为那个故事实际上已经到达了一个成人阅读的高度。他们希望小朋友看了这个故事以后，能理解一点点东西就好，等到他再大一点的时候，自己会去细致地消化。“他们书籍的年龄分段划分很清晰，3到5岁，5到8岁。像我参与合作的书，科普类的比较多，是给大一点的孩子看的。”丰风说。

        在丰风看来，虽然国内绘本整体趋势向好，也一直努力推广原创绘本，但目前还存在一些问题，“比如文字和图的关系没有处理好，一些书的文字量特别大，插画变成了一个配角，甚至是可有可无。”

        “国外出版社在书的设计上，尤其是我喜欢的那几家，胆子很大，甚至在选择群体上都非常挑剔，也就是说他们在选择家长。比如有些书画得酷酷的，更多吸引的是那些偏重艺术细胞培养的家长，同时也有比较偏亲子类题材的，面向的是普罗大众。而国内主打的就是大众市场，哪怕设计得不是很完美，也能卖得很好。“所以有些对绘本有要求的家长，选择范围就非常小了。”

        在原创风格的形成上，丰风觉得国内出版界也要打开思路，“很多出版社觉得中国风就是中国传统元素，但我觉得，现在的中国生活，也是中国美学，也是中国风的一部分。”

        她希望，有更多的插画师去创作中国的原创绘本，“它是孩子与大人进行价值观交流的中介，像美国的绘本，就有关于种族、小朋友的抑郁症、如何管控情绪这些内容的书。所以，不要再把小朋友当小朋友，可以把他们当作小大人，用平等的状态去对话。这样，绘本才能变成小朋友的朋友，而不是一个教育的工具。”

        丰风还举了一个例子，Jillian Tamaki创作的绘本《They Say Blue》，就是一册诗意的绘本，文字也引人深思。它告诉小朋友，“别人说这个颜色是这个颜色的时候，你可以有不同的理解。”

        丰风说，就连她看了都非常震惊，“我觉得需要有更多的文字作者、插画作者，一起共同创作更好的故事，让小朋友看了以后，对未来也有帮助的故事。”

对今后国内绘本的发展，丰风认为要先培养一拨好的插画师、好的编辑。

        近年来，博洛尼亚插画展在国内的巡展很受欢迎，不少家长喜欢带着孩子去进入美丽而神秘的插画世界。丰风觉得这是个好现象，“只有让大众都知道，什么样的插画是好画，什么样的童书是好书，出版市场才会朝着那个方向去发展。”

Illustrator from Haining Honored at Bologna

Lisk Feng is an award-winning New York-based freelance illustrator who is initially from Haining in eastern China’s Zhejiang Province. The 29-year-old woman artist won a special mention in the category of Opera Prima (First Works) of BolognaRagazzi Award for the year 2019. Her illustrations were part of , a book by Sangma Francis and published by London-based Flying Eye Books. BolognaRagazzi Award is a top international award issued to best illustrators at Bologna Children’s Book Fair, the very leading professional fair for children’s books in the world.

The other day I contacted Lisk Feng in New York and we talked on phone. Feng is the first Chinese who attained a special mention at the BolognaRagazzi Award. She was delighted and surprised to get the honor at her debut at the book fair. “I had no idea that the publisher put my book up for competition. I had not expected to win any award at BolognaRagazzi Award. I thought I wouldn’t get such an award until I was 50 or 60,” says the illustrator.

Lisk Feng spent her undergraduate years studying illustration at China Academy of Art based in Hangzhou. She received a master’s degree of MFA Illustration Practice from Maryland Institute College of Art in 2014.

Flying Eye Books is a publisher she had long since wanted to work with, the illustrator tells me. Before she was engaged in this  project, she had drawn illustrations for a number of children’s books published in China. Seeing me curious about any possible difference between Flying Eye Books and the publishers in China she had worked with, Feng did not hesitate to talk about her impressions.

“The major difference lies in the methodology. The illustration publishing system in China is yet to mature as illustrators are often tasked to run against time. The publishers in Britain and the USA have developed a system that has come into being and matured through a history of at least 100 years in publishing illustrations and pictorials for children. Publishers often prefer illustrators who are not specialized in creating for children as these artists often produce something very inspirational and aesthetically amazing,” explains Feng.

“Flying Eye Books used to be an independent publisher and it is especially good at making best illustrations and book designs. Illustrators step by step follow a clear set of guidelines formulated by the publisher in doing their works,” explains Feng.

Lisk Feng carries the comparison further. “The market of illustrations for children’s books is going well in China, but some problems are quite worrisome. For example, some books push illustrations to an awkwardly secondary position. Some editors even think illustrations are not necessary,” observes the illustrator.

Feng likes a number of international publishers for their boldness. “They are bold. They are picky about their target buyers. In other words, they differentiate niches of market. Some books are designed to appeal to those parents with refined taste for highly artistic books. Some books are designed to target lowbrow tastes. At present, Chinese publishers favor books that appeal to the largest group of buyers. That is why some picky parents find these books flawed and turn to books imported from international publishers.”

Feng takes a broader view of Chinese tradition. Some publishers in China think the Chinese characteristics can only come from the past. She thinks the present-day life in China is part of the Chinese aesthetics. It doesn’t have to be traditional, she believes.

Feng thinks illustrators and editors must work closely together to produce excellent books for children. Best editors bring the best out of illustrators, she believes. That’s her tip to some publishers in China.

A prolific artist, Lisk Feng has done a lot of publications and advertisings projects for prestigious organizations and news media such as The New Yorker, Apple, Penguin, Airbnb, The New York Times, Chanel, etc.