Children visiting Vijayawada Book Festival (VBF) would not ask for more as they have ample choice to lay their hands on with almost all the publishers who put up the stalls, making an excellent range of books and learning material, including digital content, available for them at reasonable prices.
Plus, children had visual quiz programmes and other competitions like essay-writing and drawing conducted every day by the organizers — Vijayawada Book Festival Society (VBFS) and National Book Trust (NBT) — at Pratibha Vedika. Comics and storybooks caught the fancy of children, who could be seen pestering their parents to buy their selections.
Ranging from the good old fairy tales to contemporary best-sellers, the exhibition provided a startling variety for the young ones to explore. Besides, they had multi-media learning tools in the form of CDs and DVDs on a wide array of subjects. Children’s encyclopaedias were a preferred lot though their prices were on the high side.
The exhibition has some stalls exclusively catering to children’s books and they did a brisk business. Attractive discounts were given on the children’s books which were sold in impressive numbers. Children of all ages, right from those doing pre-schooling had a rich collection of textbooks and educational illustrations. Books featuring many noted personalities like Malala Yousafzai and Sachin Tendulkar were a prime attraction. Popular magician and personality development trainer B.V. Pattabhiram was the cynosure of all eyes on a couple of days.
