For the love of books

By Khursheed Hyder

ONE of the most pleasurable and rewarding things in life for children and grown ups alike, is reading books. They take you to faraway places, open up new worlds and give you knowledge of things around you. They bring the world of fantasy to your doorstep, taking you to lands of disbelief where you are suspended temporarily.

Keeping this in mind and understanding the importance of books, three organisations, Idare-Taleem o Aagahee (ITA), Oxford University Press (OUP) and Open Society Foundation, got together and decided to arrange educational festivals where children could benefit from different programmes under one roof, and to instil the love of books in them. They named it Children’s Literature Festival.

ITA is an NGO which runs schools and trains teachers how to conduct classes, OUP publishes books and OSF works in promoting libraries. All the three organisations are committed to helping children in education, addressing the challenges of learning, reviving a culture of reading and innovative contents for textbooks.

Do you know that their slogan is ‘Learn to think beyond textbooks’. They teach you how to write stories on any subject you want to write on and also teach you how to publish a book. They promote the use of libraries, dramatic readings, singing and debate contests, storytelling in which stories are read to children in an interesting way, and also how to make documentaries and plays on the internet. Puppet shows, theatre plays for children, concerts and singing by Khalid Anum are also presented at the festival, along with topics on protecting our culture and heritage for the future.

In the last Children’s Literature Festival in Islamabad which was held recently, a new session was added in which Sheherzade Alam, a famous pottery maker, had children make clay coins and objects like the ones used during the Harappa civilisation. And do you know that not only the children but grown ups also loved making things out of clay! There was also a Bacha Bawarchee section in which children were taught how to make yummy dishes.

Some of the most popular segments of the programme included a drawing made by a visually challenged girl on stage at the opening of the festival while a song was presented by visually impaired girls, along with a dance performance by the Kailash children. Children from schools are invited to participate in the festivals which are open to everybody for free.

Thousands of children come to the programme accompanied by their teachers and parents.

The first festival was held in 2011 in Lahore and so far 14 festivals have been presented all over Pakistan, including in cities like Quetta and Peshawar. CLF is planning to have its next one in Gwadar so that children from that area are not left out. Through these festivals, children meet famous writers, poets, artists and media personalities who also participate in the programmes. Children’s Literature Festival educates children and at the same time gives them enjoyment — isn’t that the best way to teach!