Jamilah (left) helping one of the children at the free colouring session after the launch of the festival yesterday. — Photo by Jeffery Mostapa
KUCHING: It was a day of fun and interactive learning for more than 1,000 children at the Pustaka-Bookaroo Festival of Children’s Literature yesterday.
The festival, held for the first time here at Pustaka Negeri, is jointly run by the library and Bookaroo Trust – a body founded by book lovers seven years ago in India.
Launched by the festival’s patron Datin Patinggi Datuk Jamilah Anu, who is also the chief minister’s wife, the two-day event is aimed at promoting literacy among children between the ages of four and 14 as well as to encourage knowledge development and the culture of reading.
Making their presence felt at the festival were both local and foreign writers, illustrators, story-tellers, publishers, editors and book lovers who were seen freely interacting and engaging with young readers.
As today will be the last day of the festival, children should not miss out on a storytelling session titled ‘Heads and Tails’ by Ameen ul Haque, who is famous for twists and surprises in his story telling antics at 11am.
A Mandarin session titled ‘One Good Turn Deserves Another’ by Vashti Liong and a Bahasa Melayu session titled ‘Kampung Ceria’ by Emila Yusof will also be held at 11am.
For aspiring writers, a Meet the Author and Illustrator session will be held at the library’s auditorium featuring writer Sarah Mounsey and illustrator Jade Fang at 11am.
As the festival will continue on with different sessions at different locations in the library until 4.30pm, parents are advised to ascertain the appropriate target age group for each session to guarantee a more enjoyable experience for their children.
Besides enhancing the public’s awareness of the necessity to make children understand the importance of reading, the festival is also aimed at encouraging children to pick up books and not see it as a chore.
Meanwhile, the Bookaroo In The City programme, which is a visit programme to several schools in Kuching, was held between March 23 and 27 to encourage reading habits among students.
The schools that hosted the outreach programme were SK Tabuan, PERKATA, SMK Santubong, and SJK (C) Bintawa where students were treated to lively storytelling sessions, interactive talks as well as hands-on arts and crafts workshops.