After years of inspiring her community to protect the environment, young girl Nguyen Huu Quynh Huong, currently living in Ho Chi Minh City's Ngai Giao Commune, has turned her focus to creating and promoting picture books by Vietnamese authors abroad.
In her new role as founder of Slowbooks, Quynh Huong continues to radiate energy and passion. Already a familiar name in the publishing world, she has authored works such as Song xanh truoc khi song nhanh (Living Green Before Living Fast) published in 2020 and Tho giua rung nguoi (Breathing in the Forest of People) published in 2021. Notably, her 2021 picture book series Hit ha mui dat nuoc (Breathing in the Scent of the Homeland) earned the B Prize at the 6th National Book Awards in 2023.
Currently, Quynh Huong is preparing to showcase Slowbooks’ latest picture books at the Taiwan International Children & Youth Book Fair 2025. This is just one step in her broader mission that is to introduce Vietnamese stories to readers worldwide.
Driven by the belief that “Vietnamese children deserve to read high-quality picture books written by local authors,” Quynh Huong has tirelessly brought her works to countries such as Thailand, Korea, Germany, France, and India. Through titles like Cham cham nhu nuoc ( Slowly like water), she has held more than ten readings and workshops, connecting with over 300 readers of all ages.
Her dedication is now bearing fruit including two of Slowbooks’ titles - Dao buoc voi thoi gian (Walking with Time) and Thu gui Than Chet (Letter to the God of Death) which have recently had their copyrights acquired by Major Books, a publishing house in the United Kingdom.
The English version will be published in the UK and distributed to English-speaking countries around the world in 2026 - a sweet achievement for Quynh Huong as well as for a new publishing house. "This is not only good news for Slowbooks, but also a small but meaningful step forward for Vietnamese children's picture books on their journey to reach out to the world," Quynh Huong shared.
Having settled down in her role as an author, Quynh Huong surprised many people when she founded Slowbooks. According to Quynh Huong, in the process of participating in the book series, she realized the reality that the relationship between the author and the publishing unit is not really deep, the editor mainly helps the author edit the words but does not really "live and die" with the manuscript.
Quynh Huong said that the genre of picture books that she wants to pursue has the characteristics of requiring continuous communication and smooth combination between creative subjects. Therefore, she wants to do something different, creating deep interaction between author - editor - artist in both roles, responsibilities and remuneration.
To be able to do something different, at the end of 2022, Quynh Huong decided to establish Slowbooks. From "being alone", she recruited a number of members in the 9X and Gen Z age groups. Slowbooks brings a new and different working model when the founder is in Ho Chi Minh City, and the members work at the office in Hanoi. Although they are not close to each other, they still coordinate with each other in a harmonious way to launch unique and creative publications.
Although they have only been around for a short time, Slowbooks has managed to launch a number of publications that are elaborate in both content and form such as: Slowly like water, Shape of the night, Spring invites the ground to bloom, Walking with time. These publications have simplified the text to the maximum, increased the size of the pictures, and received great affection from both parents and children.
Quynh Huong said that when social networking platforms that prioritize fast, short content continuously appeared in Vietnam, it had a significant impact on life, including children. Every new day, when children wake up, there are so many sounds and images that flood their minds. Children are always urged to know more, faster, and more widely, but are not encouraged to rest to increase the effectiveness of living and studying.
