Each morning for a week starting on October 29, Leonard gave a series of illustrated lectures at Ocean University, in Qingdao, China, chronicling the origins and history of the American picture book. Audience members included students and faculty in the university’s children’s literature studies department as well as translators specializing in children’s literature, writers, illustrators, and publishers. The question period that followed each talk was lively, reflecting the Chinese book world’s eagerness to learn from Western models as China’s middle class rapidly expands and imaginative literature is increasingly recognized as an important element in young people’s education.
