Kids’ day out

Day two of the city’s first children’s literature festival, Peek A Book in collaboration with Deccan Chronicle, saw children from schools such as like Meridian, Nasr, Oakridge, Waldorf, Silver Oaks, Focus High School, Aga Khan Academy and others in attendance.

There were 16 interactive sessions for kids between five and 12, including a fun treasure hunt, author interactions, crafting pop-up books, etc. Author Parinita Shetty, who had organised the Around The World In Four Books treasure hunt, says, “As a kid, I used to love taking part in treasure hunts. We decided to do a unique hunt where kids learnt more about the places with the books, like we have Percy Jackson from New York, Harry Potter from London, Heidi from Switzerland and Madeline from Paris. Even kids who don’t read get excited with the idea of a treasure hunt so it’s also a way to engage them with books.”

While pointing out some highlights of the festival, organiser Lubaina Bandukwala said, “We  had sessions with parents who want their kids to read but don’t know how to go about it.

They need to understand that there are different books for different kids. I’m happy that we also hosted some actual literary events like author interactions where kids got to know why an author wrote a particular book. For me, whenever I’ve met an author, I’ve wanted to read their book. It’s the biggest service to reading I can do by bringing authors to the city.”

The authors, who were a part of the festival, were ecstatic with the response from kids  with such a short time spent on promotions.

Author Shabnam Minwalla, who introduced kids to a Supergirl story and also taught them the basics of journalism, says, “The kids have been quite enthusiastic, bubbly and full of ideas. You get a lot of Indian books at this festivals, which helps as sometimes, kids find it difficult to associate with American or British children. When they read about someone like them, something just goes off in their minds and they develop a love for reading.”

Author of The Gita For Children Roopa Pai adds, “We underestimate children. They are much more capable of taking in things than we realise. Face-to-face interactions do create an impact on them and they are influenced to explore a story that may be left hanging just to know what happened next.”

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