Among the several book fairs being held regularly, it is heartening to see some which are completely dedicated to children. One them is the Bokaroo Children’s Literature Festival which started in 2008 and moving strength to strength, is set to hold its 10th edition. The two-day event commences on Saturday.
Irrespective of the years gone by, the founders of the fest remain steadfast to their original aim — to help inculcate among children love for reading. “Reading opens minds and the world of possibilities. It sparks curiosity, fires the imagination and helps develop empathy,” explains Jo Williams Bookaroo’s co-founder and director along with Swati Roy and M. Venkatesh. Emphasising that children are their target she adds, “We believe that reading for pleasure at an early age leads to a love for the written word for life.”
Like earlier, Bookaroo this year too packs a lot of action for kids. In all there will be 61 speakers from 13 countries conducting 102 sessions. “These sessions include storytelling, dramatised reading, art, craft, performance, poetry, creative reading and panel discussions, all covering genres like, adventure, history, nature, graphic novels and science and others,” informs Swati. All these activities make kids realise that books are not burdensome as they seem at schools rather are loads of fun and learning.
This time, Vivek Menon, the renowned wildlife conservationist, author and photographer will take audience through the Indian jungle while well known author, Anita Nair will share her delightful stories with kids. Celebrated artists Kavita Singh Kale and Spain’s Cintia Martin and Consuelo Digon will create amazing crafts from masks to insectarium. Debi Gliori, award-winning Scottish writer and illustrator will talk about her latest book Night Shift which has stunning black and white illustrations and simple text and Amar Chitra Katha will celebrate its five decades with myths and superheroes and fun filled workshop to create a comics page in just 60 minutes.
Swati Roy
Keeping in mind how youngsters across all ages love tales, storytelling will come alive as performances from Mexico, Portugal, Spain, Australia and India among others will present stories with songs, guitar, viola, puppets, mime and more!
Visiting schools
As a run up to the fest, writers and illustrators have visited 19 schools including Panchayat School and Pathways Aravalli in Gurugram, British in Chanakyapuri, Gyan Bharti and Amity in Saket among others. “Besides this, 10 walls around the city are being painted by children’s book illustrators including David Liew of Singapore, Savio Mascarenhas of Amar Chitra Katha, Kolkata’s Proiti Roy and Roshini Vyam, a Gond artist,” informs Swati. Making the movement inclusive, institutions for different abled too are visited. “The aim is to make every child feel part of the story that celebrates reading. Many young people facing all kinds of barriers cannot read or enjoy a regular book. However, that does not mean they will not enjoy a story that is told well,” observes Swati.
Driving home the point of inclusivity, there a special session titled “Same, Same but Different” where Tonya Bolden, Lavanya Karthik, Siddhant Shah and Champa Saha will discuss different worlds, lives and people who are actually the same within. Siddhant will also visit Shahdara’s Bharatiya Netraheen School with Tactile Trails, bringing children a flavour of Kerala through multi-sensorial activities.
What makes this year’s experience double fun is the venue as the event is being held at Children’s Park, India Gate. “The idea of holding it in an open space is to show that books are not confined to classrooms. It allows the mind to soar and imagine besides giving it a form of accessibility,” explains Swati.
(On November 25 and 26 at Children’s Park)
