Serving up a treat

Now the biographical picture book Li Na: Being a Better Me has been conceived to be 45 pages-including 22 double-page spreads.

"The major task for the creative team is to make choices about what to keep and what to leave out," Miao says, adding that the team comprises artists from China and the United Kingdom.

Li personally oversaw the process of making what is probably the first biographic picture book about a living Chinese athlete, and her children are among the first group of readers.

The 38-year-old says she would like to inspire more readers to pursue their dreams, just as she did before retiring in 2014.

The first print run of 50,000 copies sold out soon after its release earlier this year.

"It's a very true and touching book which made me revisit my early days. I'll dedicate the picture book to my father," Li says.

The father and daughter relationship is a key area of focus for A Jia, the book's writer, who is himself a father to a daughter.

"After carefully reading her autobiography and all the relevant material, along with similar picture books about foreign athletes, and watching all of her matches, I interviewed Li and her mother," A Jia says. "I decided to start the story with her father."

Beijing-based A Jia, 49, is a former law professional who graduated from Fudan University. He then taught and wrote on various topics, including preparing for the lawyers' certificate tests, until 2001, when he was drawn into the world of picture books. This was due, he says, to the "bedtime story" routine with his newborn daughter. He read, translated and studied picture books, and made his name with his research and publications about picture books.

"Li Na's father introduced her into the world of sport at the age of 4, dragging her jogging on the cold Wuhan winter mornings, all the way through to summer, something perhaps difficult for present-day parents to accept," A Jia says.