Bookaroo is a celebration of the joy of reading. The wide-ranging programme of events and activities brings authors, illustrators, storytellers and audiences together to inspire each other and to be inspired, to share stories and experiences, and make books come alive for children.
It promises to be the biggest-ever children’s literature festival. It is the only children’s Litfest to go international. Organised by Delhi-based Bookaroo Trust - is India’s first literature festival of its kind. The nine-city festival began in November 2008 as a solo in the capital and has journeyed through 12 cities and completed 31 editions since then.
Seventy speakers from thirteen countries are all set to delight children and parents alike in Delhi with some scintillating storytelling, workshops, drama, art and craft and books at the 11th edition of Bookaroo, India’s first children’s literature festival. Two days of non-stop fun with books will unfold at Alpenliebe-Bookaroo Delhi 2018 in collaboration with Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA). The festival will showcase a record 105 sessions for children between four and fourteen years of age over the weekend on December 1st and 2nd, 2018. Rohit Kapoor, Director Marketing, Perfetti Van Melle India Pvt. Ltd., says, “In this fast-paced life, it is becoming increasingly difficult for families to spend quality time together. We feel that Bookaroo is the perfect association, through which we can urge families to spend more time with each other and indulge in a fun-filled weekend of immersive love for books, stories and art.”
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Achal Pandya, from Cultural Archives, IGNCA, says, "Bookaroo is one such festival where children and their activities are celebrated at a large scale. Please do come to the IGNCA to be part of this festival on December 1 and 2, 2018 and enjoy books, exhibitions and various other activities.”
Storytelling will come alive under the Banyan tree, as performers from all corners of the earth - New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, South Korea, the Czech Republic and seven other countries present stories as never before! There’s also Qissebaazi, the unique art of bringing regional stories using a bridge language. This time the focus is on Sanskrit and Malayalam.
Art and craft will be an important part of the festival. Making toys, creating life out of trash, guessing games, Czech puppets, comic characters, masked animals, playing with words and images to make tales, creating wacky animal walls to creating a monster wall to making an ocean come alive on the wall – all this and more
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Real-life stories will be read out. Tansen, the musical genius; the life of Amrita Shergil, Krishnadeva Raya and his empire building; inspiring personalities from sports, art, music, history and science, a powerful story that is set in the backdrop of the Gonds’ struggle for their land. BookArt, an exhibition of original artwork from children’s books by three award-winning children’s books illustrators will be on display.
Alongside the weekend festival, Bookaroo also has an outreach programme, Bookaroo in the City (BIC), where we visit schools, hospitals, orphanages, homes, schools for special needs children. The idea is to take a flavour of the festival to those who may not be able to make it to the main festival.
The mission of the festival is to bring children and books together - has been appreciated by children, parents, teachers and the media, mainline as well as regional. This year Bookaroo was awarded the International Excellence Award at the London Book Fair. In addition to opening up the world of books for children Bookaroo also serves as a platform for exchange of ideas amongst speakers, publishers and editors.
Bookaroo also acts as a stepping stone for little-known authors, illustrators and storytellers not only with the main festival but in a big way with the outreach programme, Bookaroo in the City (BIC). Bookaroo is a dream that became a beautiful reality. As it became India’s most-travelled festival, Bookaroo’s spin-offs too have become much looked-forward-to. Whether it is the outreach programme, Bookaroo in the City (wherein the festival goes to institutions and schools underserved and regular) or the annual Bookart exhibition that showcases the best original artwork from children’s books, Bookaroo has been fortunate to get the unconditional love of children everywhere.
