30 Good Books to Help Impoverished Children Read Happily

The book list for the "Happy Reading" project has been released; the CYDF and The Beijing News jointly initiated and hosted the "Challenge 8 Hours" hiking event to raise funds for this initiative.

On September 8, over two thousand caring individuals will gather at the YuDu Mountain Scenic Area in Yanqing to practice public welfare through the power of walking.

The CYDF and The Beijing News jointly initiated and hosted the "Challenge 8 Hours" 2012 charity hiking event, using an innovative public welfare approach to raise funds for the Happy Reading project under Project Hope. All proceeds will be used to build reading bases in primary schools in impoverished areas such as Haiyuan County in Ningxia and Longyang District in Baoshan City, Yunnan.

Beijing News Report Recently, our newspaper has continuously covered the "Challenge 8 Hours" hiking event, which raises funds through hiking. All funds raised from this event will go to the "Happy Reading" project to purchase books for primary schools in impoverished areas such as Haiyuan County in Ningxia and Longyang District in Baoshan City, Yunnan. What books the children can read through this public welfare project has become a topic of public concern.

Yesterday, the China Youth Development Foundation stated that the project specially hired experts who selected 30 suitable Chinese and foreign extracurricular reading materials for children of different grades from the latest book lists developed by educational research institutions. Experts said that the selected book list follows the rules of children's reading and can meet the reading needs of the supported students.

A relevant official from the CYDF introduced that the books chosen for the "Happy Reading" project come from the "Basic Reading Book List for Chinese Primary School Students." This book list includes a total of 100 Chinese and foreign books, comprising 30 basic reading titles and 70 recommended reading titles. For the "Happy Reading" project, considering factors such as price and copyright, 30 books were selected from this list. These include outstanding works by Chinese authors such as "The Grass House" and "Shuke and Beita Airline," as well as classic foreign children’s books such as "Selected Grimm's Fairy Tales" and "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." These 30 books are divided into three grade levels: lower level (grades 1–2), middle level (grades 3–4), and upper level (grades 5–6), with 10 books for each level. According to recommendations from reading experts, the 10 books for each level cover three categories: literature, science, and humanities.

The reason for choosing the "Basic Reading Book List for Chinese Primary School Students" as the book list, according to a relevant official from the CYDF, is that the New Reading Research Institute, which developed the list, also conducted surveys in rural areas to investigate the current state of extracurricular reading materials for children. The CYDF has had multiple exchanges with the New Reading Research Institute. Both in terms of professionalism and practicality, this book list aligns with the project’s mission of "cultivating students' reading interest and habits," and the experts from the institute are also willing to select appropriate books for the project.

Hai Fei, Vice Chairman of the China Publishing Association and Director of the Children's Reading Materials Committee, who participated in the book selection work for the "Happy Reading" project, explained that when selecting books for children, the experts followed principles such as "choosing good books," "grading the books," and "creating good combinations," in line with children’s reading patterns.

"A good book can likely influence a person’s entire life," said Hai Fei. Most of the books on the selected list are either award-winning children's books recognized nationally each year or classic foreign children’s books. "Award-winning books have expert oversight and reader endorsements, while classic foreign books allow Chinese children to stand on the same starting line as children abroad in terms of reading."

Regarding the principle of "grading the books," Hai Fei explained that "graded reading" is a reading concept with practical experience imported from abroad. Its main goal is to ensure that children of different age groups read materials suitable for their growth and development. "They should not be too difficult or too easy—books must match the children’s age." Therefore, the Happy Reading project is divided into three grade levels: lower, middle, and upper, following the graded reading principle.

In addition, the experts also considered the principle of "creating good combinations." The book list includes literary works such as "Selected Andersen's Fairy Tales," which enrich children’s vocabulary and imagination, as well as science books like "Insect Lore" and "101 Water Experiments," helping children understand scientific concepts and principles. There are also humanistic books like "The Story of Confucius" for spiritual education. "The book list avoids being one-dimensional, providing children with a scientifically sound and reasonable reading package."

Public welfare projects such as "donating books to rural children" are not uncommon, but whether the donated books are truly "put to good use" remains an issue of ongoing concern for the public and charitable organizations.

Tu Meng, Secretary-General of the CYDF, explained that the CYDF once provided extracurricular reading materials to rural schools through the "Hope Library" program, but some problems subsequently emerged: the books on the list were more suited to older children, there were relatively few children’s books, and since rural schools didn’t offer reading classes, many books were locked away.

Tu Meng said that this was related to the per-student book ownership standards set by the Ministry of Education, as well as the schools’ attitudes toward books. "For example, they worry about the wear and tear of hard-to-obtain extracurricular books due to frequent borrowing." As a result, these extracurricular books, which should have circulated among students, ended up being "put on a pedestal."

In reflection, the CYDF began adjusting the project and launched "Happy Reading" to ensure that the books are actually read. To prevent the donated extracurricular books from becoming decorations, the project will sign agreements with local government departments in pilot areas, requiring reading classes to be included in the curriculum system, with at least one reading class per week. In addition, the project will provide training for reading guidance teachers in rural primary schools. "Because reading involves skills, there should be teachers to guide the children—through shared reading, listening to you read, writing reading notes, holding reading sharing sessions, and other methods—to stimulate their interest in reading."

The CYDF will also organize experts to conduct regular follow-ups, guidance, and monitoring to promote reading sharing activities in rural primary schools.

Reading good books is the right of every child. The principle of fair treatment is even more important from the perspective of rural children. We have seen many times that whenever the publishing industry labels something as a "rural children's book box" or "rural donation books," it often provokes resentment among children. Rural children very much hope to be treated equally. Therefore, whether it is charitable organizations or individual enterprises, when selecting books for children in rural areas, the same standards should be applied.

——Hai Fei, Vice Chairman of the China Publishing Association and Director of the Children's Reading Materials Committee

Guidance and Graded Reading Are Very Important

Extracurricular books are very scarce in rural schools, and everyone is aware of this. Therefore, the traditional approach has been to donate books to these schools. But many rural schools have set up libraries without managing them or conducting reading activities. The "Happy Reading" project not only provides extracurricular books for rural students but also trains teachers to carry out reading education activities, helping children read better and enjoy the pleasure of reading. In addition, book grading is very important—books should be selected according to the appropriate age levels. For example, younger children prefer picture books, while middle and higher-grade children tend to like science and interest-based books.

——An Zhu (online name), initiator of the "Carry an Extra Kilogram" activity

After our newspaper continuously reported on the "8-Hour Challenge" cross-country race and the "Happy Reading" project, it drew the attention of some citizens. The China Youth Development Foundation responded to the commonly asked questions from the public.

1. Can citizens donate books directly?

Answer: The project does not accept physical book donations. First, by design, the project is intended to raise funds publicly, receive monetary donations, then purchase books in bulk, and distribute them systematically. Second, accepting direct book donations would also introduce logistical issues, such as storage and disinfection. Most importantly, there is a need to screen donated books for content legality and appropriateness for children. Therefore, the project only accepts monetary donations, not physical items.

2. Can citizens purchase and donate books according to the published book list?

Answer: Citizens may purchase and donate books for rural elementary school students based on the book list and the school addresses published online, but this is considered a personal action. Whether the books purchased through personal efforts ultimately reach the children and how they are used is not under the supervision of the Youth Development Foundation—it is the responsibility of the donor.

3. How can we ensure that the books ultimately reach the children?

Answer: The pricing of all books is published on the official website, and the management and use of donated funds must be fully transparent. Once the book selection is complete, the books are delivered to the county-level Communist Youth League committee at the recipient location. Schools are required to send back a receipt upon receiving the books and provide photos of the on-site book distribution. Each book that reaches the children will include a postcard. We will also send the address of the donating party with a clear donation intent to the corresponding schools. Children can send postcards to donors as a way to express gratitude and as proof that they received the books.

The “Project Hope Happy Reading” books consist of three sets, including literature, science, and humanities titles recommended by reading experts. Based on the principle of graded reading, they are divided into three levels: lower grade (Grades 1–2), middle grade (Grades 3–4), and upper grade (Grades 5–6), with 10 books per level.

Lower Grade (Grades 1–2)

● Literature

Hundred-Year Nursery Rhymes: Grandma’s Bridge

I Want to See the Sea (The Adventures of Kika the Chicken)

Belly Wolf Under the Moonlight

Selected Grimm’s Fairy Tales

The Adventures of Pinocchio

Me and My Little Sister Klara

● Science

Animals in Danger (Discover Science)

A Journey Inside the Human Body (The Magic School Bus)

● Humanities

Three Character Classic, Thousand Character Classic, and Disciple Rules

Chinese Mythology Stories

Middle Grade (Grades 3–4)

● Literature

Three Hundred Tang Poems

The Secret of the Magic Gourd

Selected Andersen’s Fairy Tales

The Adventures of Shuke and Beita Airlines

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Peter Pan

● Science

101 Water Experiments (101 Magical Experiments)

Earthquake Survival (My First Science Comic Book)

● Humanities

The Story of Books

Greek Mythology Stories

Upper Elementary (Grades 5–6)

● Literature

My Memories of Old Beijing

The Grass House

Charlotte’s Web

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

The Neverending Story

● Science

Ye Yonglie Tells 100 Stories of Scientists

Insect Lore

Journey to the Center of the Earth

● Humanities

The Story of Confucius

Stories of Music and Art for Young People