Dreams don't always happen like in fairy tales... thanks God!
How a frustrated plan to go to China turned out even better.
The year was 2019 and I received the incredible news: I won the Golden Pinwheel Grand Award at the China Shanghai International Children's Book Fair (CCBF) with the book "Aaahhh!".
The prize entitled me to attend the fair in Shanghai the following year, but what happened in 2020 spoiled the whole world's plans. The pandemic even aborted my trip to Bologna, which was all booked and organized, as I've already mentioned in another So you can imagine my frustration when the trip to China was also canceled.
These trips seemed like the perfect opportunity to boost my career and showcase my work outside Brazil, but as it was for most of us, the following years were a time of great waiting.
...
The year is now 2023. Things in China are back to normal and I was finally invited to take part in the 10th edition of the fair, which took place between November 17th and 19th. I was invited to do a workshop, a panel discussion with other authors, and review other illustrators' portfolios.
However, during these three years of waiting, my work grew and I had the privilege of having several books published in China: "Ride", "Aaahhh!", "About a Song", "Ramon Fellini", "Run", "Families" and "Loudspeaker Mom". And that was the turning point that made the trip even more incredible. We took advantage of the fact that I was already in Shanghai to go on a book tour with 'Magic Elephant Books', the Chinese publisher. For 13 days, I traveled almost five thousand kilometers between four cities: Guilin, Changsha, Kunming, and Shenzhen, with a program including talks in schools, bookstores, and a mall, totaling more than a thousand children (and some parents). I also autographed more than a thousand books during this period.
But the icing on the cake was the exhibition of my work organized by the publisher at the Guangxi Normal University Art Gallery in Guilin.
I imagined that the exhibition would be incredible, judging by the intense months leading up to the trip (sending material, information and exchanging ideas about what the place would be like), but I confess that I was surprised to see approximately 400m2 with various rooms that represented my works in an interactive, thematic and fun way.
I'm still processing everything I experienced during this unprecedented experience. From beginning to end, I was warmly welcomed everywhere I went, by very cordial people. It was simply surreal to see my work received with such admiration by the Chinese. There's no way to measure the love that readers have for my books. Even though I live so far away, knowing that these stories speak to their hearts is so precious.
China is an incredible country, where city and nature connect uniquely. The (very spicy) food, the scenery, the architecture, the technology, the people... I treasure all these moments in my memory, and I'm already looking forward to going back!