PVPF 2024

Bookaroo Children's Literature Festival in Srinagar Promotes Love for Reading and Creative Exploration

the festival's goal is to "bring authors and kids together in a way that sparks their imagination and love for reading."
on Jun 12, 2023

At Delhi Public School (DPS) Srinagar, the two-day Bookaroo Children's Literature Festival ended on Sunday. The festival aimed to foster a love of reading in young people.

The festival, currently in its 46th edition and in Srinagar for the sixth time, involved students from various universities in various creative activities, promoting a thriving environment of discovery and inspiration.

Bookaroo adopted a novel strategy by promoting hands-on activities and interactive workshops, unlike conventional literary events concentrating on presentations and panel discussions.

"The interesting elements that captivated the young participants were craft projects, drawing workshops, and lively conversations between authors and children," festival director Swati told Greater Kashmir.

According to its director, the festival's goal is to "bring authors and kids together in a way that sparks their imagination and love for reading."

The director praised the occasion and emphasized the need for more similar activities.

Given the number of books accessible now and the burgeoning of Indian authors, she said, "What we are doing is merely a drop in the ocean" and added that so much more could be done.

We should make an effort to share these local tales with kids in order to spark their interest and encourage creative thinking.

Both the writers and the organizers were thrilled with the festival's atmosphere, which was created by the students that attended.

The festival's director said that they are planting concepts in the young people's thoughts.

According to Swati, Bookaroo has an effect that extends beyond the event itself since it inspires kids to think beyond the confines of tests and other scholastic demands.

She claimed that the Bookaroo Children's Literature Festival, established in 2008 under the auspices of the Bookaroo Trust, is a well-known event that has traveled to 16 cities and held 41 editions. The sixth edition of Bookaroo Srinagar was held at DPS Srinagar in partnership with the DP Dhar Memorial Trust.

Around 27 speakers from 10 locations presented 58 sessions throughout the course of the two-day festival, engaging the kids in a variety of activities such as storytelling, craft projects, book readings, doodling, poetry, and music.

Shafaq Afshan, principal of DPS Srinagar, underlined the need to encourage young pupils' creative development and mentioned how greatly such events might affect their minds.

Vijay Dhar, the chairman of DPS Srinagar, expressed his joy at getting the pupils reading and exposing them to the realm of creativity.

"The Bookaroo's Festival inspired young minds, and we are grateful to them for holding the festival in this school," he stated.