Hou Mingliang, founder of IlluSalon, says his company aims to bring together illustrators and those who use illustrations. [Photo provided to China Daily]

A 30-volume series of children's books received a lot attention online in China recently not only because of its sheer size but also because of the source of its financial backing－crowd funding organized by an online bookshop.

The illustrations in the 30 volumes of stories taken from all over the world, reflect the breadth of the books and of the stories therein, 3,000 pictures by 30 illustrators from various countries and regions, such as Francesca Greco and Valentina Fiore Perla from Italy.

"There are stories from Grimm's Fairy Tales and from the Middle East, and of course illustrators from those countries and regions are very well suited to that job," says Hou Mingliang, founder of IlluSalon, a company in Beijing that aims to bring together illustrators and those who use illustrations.

"The prices of illustrations can vary widely, depending largely on the local economy. There may be little difference in the quality of works when you compare various places, but some will be expensive while others are extremely cheap.

"With IlluSalon, publishers have many choices and can make decisions based on their needs and their budgets."