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There is a fine art to writing a children’s story. The best tales seem like the simplest things on earth, yet behind the scenes they are masterfully created – often with a dark theme lurking in the imaginary tales (think Roald Dahl and Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are).

That said, the recently published box set Animalympics by Hong Kong-based publishers Haven Books is forging an excellent new path for original children’s books in the city.

Animalympics is a set of five stories that tell the tale of a bunch of ambitious animals who travel to the Beijing Olympics. The star of the box set is illustrator Adeline Ko, whose original illustrations infuse each book with vibrant colours and world class illustrations. Five authors have written a tale each, including Hong Kong editor Louise Renwick, Hungarian writer and teacher Judith Simanovsky, writer and editor Mio Debnam and teacher Susan Sprengeler. Each story focuses on an Asian animal that makes it to the Beijing games in one way or another (although curiously there is also story about an African emu in Esmelda Goes for Gold).

Karmel Schreyer’s Chiru’s Lucky Seven is the strongest in the pack. Her tale about the Tibetan antelope is beautifully crafted, with a simple, well paced account of the antelope’s journey to Beijing – where the endangered animal accidentally takes part in the heptathlon. In addition, there are ‘Fun Facts’ at the back of each book about the animals, as well as a back page on the Olympic Games. Topically, the five books are packaged in a sky blue box set, with each book in one of the five colours of the Olympics.

While Animalympics might not take the children’s book world completely by storm, children in the three to eight age range should find them fun, well illustrated and, thankfully, relevant. In a city where English standards are slipping, it’s a welcome sight to see original books like this emerging from our own writers. Clare Morin

Available at Haven Books.