Noted film-maker Adoor Gopalakrishnan has called for concerted efforts to initiate children into reading early.
Inaugurating the eighth children’s book festival, being organised by the Kerala State Institute of Children’s Literature here on Saturday, Mr. Gopalakrishnan said that as reading opened a whole new world of ideas, the best time to introduce a person to the habit was during the formative years.
The nine-day festival would feature cultural events and a children’s corner where painting competition, magic shows, and interactions with celebrities would be held. The festival would also provide children a platform to display their talent in story telling, poetry recitation, etc. Several books have been lined up for release at the festival, which will see some 100 publishers exhibiting and selling their books, Institute director Nedumudi Harikumar, who chaired the inaugural session, said.
