My Recap: Children’s Picturebook Festival Vietnam (VCBF 2026)

My Recap on 4 Days at VCBF 2026 (May 28 - May 31)

Children’s Picturebook Festival Vietnam

VCBF 2026 Theme: "Picture Books: Supporting Children in Difficult Times"

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What an incredibly vibrant season at the Vietnam Children’s Picturebook Festival (VCBF 2026)!

This year's theme is "Picture Books: Supporting Children in Difficult Times". I initially planned to attend only the two most important days, but thanks to the irresistible pull of the Practice Series, I ended up checking in for all four days. Because of that, I was able to participate in almost every activity — except for a few concurrent panel discussions, which the organizers intentionally scheduled at the same time just to make us feel a little FOMO!

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My sketch while walking into the yard of General Science Library of Ho Chi Minh City.

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A few personal milestones and memorable takeaways:

My First Panel Discussion: For the first time, I sat on a panel to "speak" about a fraction of what I’ve been doing on my picturebook journey during the session "Who’s Afraid of Sad Books?", which is very related to the theme of this year: "Picture Books: Supporting Children in Difficult Times". This was also a wonderful opportunity for me to look back and seriously review my own work.

Pure Inspiration from Young Creators: I met Thuan Nhien, the adorable child author of "The Cloud-Inhaling Demon," and listened to the young creators share their journeys. Seeing them continuously practice writing and drawing under the guidance and support of Ms. Tam from Ô Cửa Sách, I could feel that these children are having a truly priceless childhood. It gave me a powerful wave of inspiration to keep drawing and writing with the pure spirit of "the joy of creating."

A Fresh Perspective on the Industry: I gained a very fresh and comprehensive outlook on Vietnamese picturebooks through different eras, learning about the continuous efforts of many individuals and organizations to bring Vietnamese picturebooks to the world. I could truly feel the shared belief among everyone present there. Session "Vietnamese Picture Books: The Journey to the Global Stage".

Pure Energy from Young Readers: Witnessing so many young readers enthusiastically dive into books and interact—regardless of whether they fully understood the content or not—unexpectedly filled me with a pure sense of confidence and energy.

Performance of the "SHE CREATES CHANGES" community.

Topic: "Staging picture books: Performed by the deaf community"

On the right is my sketch while watching the performance.

Reconnecting with Partners: I got to catch up with Ms. Hu, editor Hoang Anh, and Ms. Maru—the amazing people I’ve worked and journeyed with over the past year. I have a huge respect for everyone's efforts dedicated to the festival and the goals they are pursuing. We - Prartice Series team - also joined the event fully, to learn and to share.

A Proud Moment: Most special of all, seeing "The Cloud-Inhaling Demon" on the bookshelves and warmly embraced by readers!

The theme of this year is very interesting: "Picture Books: Supporting Children in Difficult Times". I really appreciate the Executive Team of VCBF for helping individual efforts in the Vietnam Children's Book Industry "resonate" with each other and spread even further.

Warmest,

Linh Khanh