Vietnamese art book on wildlife to be released in UK

The book, Chang Hoang Da – Gau (Saving Sorya, Chang and The Sun Bear), features the journey of Chang, a young girl with big dreams of saving endangered wild animals. It tells the stories about animals that are close to extinction.

Chang’s adventure begins when she meets Sorya, a sun bear who was saved from traffickers by the Bear Rescue Centre. She is determined to return Sorya back to nature.

Chang and her new friend, Sorya, help readers discover the beauty of nature and the life of wild animals through their stories.

Chang Hoang Da – Gau includes 120 watercolour paintings by Jeet Zdung. The pictures are the result of a two-month field trip into the wild.

The 120-page book was released in Vietnam in March, 2020. Profits from the book’s sales will be sent to wildlife projects in Vietnam.

It has been issued by Pan MacMillan in five countries, China, the Republic of Korea, Norway, Turkey and the US.

“I hope the book can touch readers’ hearts and encourage and inspire people to dream and protect nature and the Earth’s vitality,” said the book’s writer Trang, 31, who has a PhD in Biodiversity Management from the University of Kent in England.

In 2013, Trang founded WildAct, an NGO which focuses on monitoring illegal wildlife trade markets and provides conservation education programmes for Vietnamese youngsters. She also received a scholarship for wildlife conservation from Cambridge University.

In 2019, Trang was included on the BBC’s list of the top 100 inspiring and influential women around the world.

Artist Jeet Zdung, whose real name is Nguyen Tien Dung, was born in 1988. He has won prizes for his illustrations. His works were shown at the Cartoon Festival organised by the Wallonie – Bruxelles Delegation in Vietnam in 2012.