Cai Gao becomes first Chinese winner of Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration

(ECNS) -- Chinese illustrator Cai Gao received the 2026 Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration in Ottawa, Canada, on Friday, becoming the first Chinese illustrator to win the honor since the illustration category was introduced in 1966.

In her acceptance speech, she described children’s books as bridges linking cultures and hearts.

Chinese illustrator Cai Gao receives the Hans Christian Andersen Award during the 40th IBBY World Congress in Canada on Aug. 7, 2026. (Photo/Hunan Juvenile & Children’s Publishing House)

Born in Changsha, Hunan Province, in 1946, Cai had no formal art training. After six years as a rural teacher, she became a children’s book editor in the 1980s and went on to create dozens of picture books rooted in her own life and Chinese cultural traditions.

Her works draw on nursery rhymes, folk tales and the wartime history of Changsha, exploring themes of love, courage and self-transcendence.

She said picture books also serve as spaces for communication between parents and children. 

Cai recalled that the first long-form picture story she illustrated was Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid,” whose pursuit of an immortal soul had long inspired her.

Receiving the award decades later, she said Chinese stories likewise carry a gentle yet resilient spirit and a beauty capable of crossing language barriers.

(By Helen Mo, intern Yang Hongran)