A set of cartoon books on the theme of crime and punishment was published Tuesday to help Chinese youngsters better understand criminal law.

The stories presented are all real cases heard in people's courts all over China.

A typical example is the story of Xie Xinzhe, a middle school student who dropped out of school and ran away from home. Arriving in Xuzhou in east China's Jiangsu, Xie finds a job in a tea house. The tea house owners are very kind to Xie, but Xie steals jewelry from them worth 40,000 yuan (5,000 U.S. dollars).

Readers see Xie being spoken to by the judge who, taking her age into consideration, puts her on probation.

The government's intention is to help youngsters better understand criminal law by using cartoons that are attractive to them and easy to read.

"When teaching law to youngsters, we need to take into account their age and psychology," said Gu Xiulian, vice chairperson of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

Gu, also vice-secretary of the Central Committee for Comprehensive Management of Public Security, attended the publisher's book launch.

"We should raise youngsters' awareness of the law and do all we can to dissuade them from committing crimes," she added.

The six-volume set complete with 1090 cartoons and illustrations is published by the Publishing House of the People's Court.

Source: Xinhua