Attend a book fair. Watch kids sing. Watch kids giggle and laugh at stories. Watch kids creating another world through their drawings. Watch people donate books to a great cause. Any better ways of dispelling Monday morning blues? This Monday actually started on a superb note.
Since today was Children’s Day, it was a great day to kickstart the National Book Week. The venue was packed with children and as they all tried to find places and settle down, other kids started the inauguration session with some lovely songs. On the event of children’s day, NBT also released a book on Delhi and copies of the book were promised to the children. As the speakers wished the children a ‘Happy Children’s Day’, they also told them interesting stories, shared lovely poems and set the context for the Book Week and the theme of ‘Wings of Imagination’. On that note, the stage was handed over to storyteller Anupa Lal and illustrator Atanu Roy.
The children who were a little restless after the inauguration speeches shuffled around before Anupa Lal caught their attention and started telling them a story. The noisy audience turned quiet and listened with rapt attention. As she told her story, Atanu Roy was busy illustrating the story to prepare for the next part of the session. With the levels of excitement at an all time high, chaos erupted as the children eagerly reached for blank sheets and colour pencils. Soon, the kids were immersed in drawing the lion from the story that was narrated.
We left at this point but were sure that the kids would have a lovely time in the coming week. So, if you are in Delhi, make sure you attend some of the events being conducted during the National Book Week. You can view the entire schedule here.
One of the other attractions of the National Book Week is the book fair being conducted by the Pag-e group (Publishers’ Action Group – Ensuring quality books for children). We are happy to be one of the publishers associated with Pag-e. You can find beautiful books published by us and other publishers at the event.