This weekend, Delhi's Bookaroo Festival Returns to pique Children's Imaginations

Discover the magic of children's literature at Bookaroo Festival, Delhi. Nature exploration, storytelling, and creative workshops for young readers.

on Nov 24, 2023

This weekend, Delhi's Bookaroo Festival Returns to pique Children's Imaginations | Frontlist

The Bookaroo Children's Literature Festival's 15th edition is all about exploring nature through stories and the love of reading.

With its storytelling sessions and workshops, the annual Bookaroo Children's Literature Festival in Delhi is a place of discovery, delight, and inspiration for young readers. The 15-year-old festival returns this weekend at a new location: Delhi's Sunder Nursery, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

There will be 78 sessions, each with 40 speakers from 12 different nations. "We have a lot of nature and wildlife sessions this year." "Many books are about various aspects of the environment, with the goal of piqueing children's interest," festival director Swati Roy explains.

There is a deep dive into the world that children are inheriting, from a storytelling session about solving a mystery to an interactive song-filled session about the hardworking world of ants. "Along with stories, we are introducing wilderness walks that will cover tadpoles, dragonflies, bees, and other beings at Sundar Nursery," Roy said.

The festival will be separated into zones this year, like in prior years. Children will recognise three of them: Kahani Tree, Crafty Corner, and Doodle Wall. There will also be The Pavilion, The Arches, the Amphitheatre, and the Secret Garden. All of the zones will be holding separate sessions at the same time, which will be segregated by age groups to make it easier for youngsters to choose which one interests them.

"We will also have a tree of wishes overseen by award-winning Swiss author Johanna Schaible." "Children write their future wishes and hang them on a tree like fruits, hoping they will ripen," Roy says. Schaible will also discuss how the world was formed and what the future holds for children who are observing rapid changes around them.

In recent years, there has been a focus on translations, and the festival will also offer a workshop on translating novels into Indian languages for children aged eight to ten, led by Jashodhara Chakrabarti.

While literature is the primary focus, Bookaroo is known for allowing youngsters to express themselves via arts and crafts. "In the Doodle Wall, which is a 20-foot-long wall, every hour an illustrator will mentor children on how to draw something from a book," Roy goes on to add. There will also be courses this year on how to produce macrame, embroidery, and bookmarks utilising the exquisite hand-cutting skill of Sanjhi.

The celebration is not only for children, but also for their parents, according to Roy. Parents have attended several courses over the years to learn how to tell stories and discover what their children are interested in. It's all about the joy of reading for the kids. "It's about showing that there's this aspect of childhood where you associate memories and joy with books," festival director Venkatesh M. explains.