LAHORE: The two-day Children’s Literature Festival (CLF) will start at the Children’s Library Complex (CLC) on Jan 22 in collaboration with Schools Education Department, the Punjab government and the CLC.

The festival’s theme this year is ‘Heritage, Expression and 21st Century Skills,’ bringing children and literature together for learning. There will be sessions not only for children but also for teachers and parents.

The registration for the event will be from 8am to 9am while the festival on both days will be from 9am to 4pm. To avoid any traffic issues, schools can log on to the website www.childrensliteraturefestival.com and pre-register on the email.

Baela Raza Jamil, one of the organisers and the director of Idara-e-Taleem-o-Agahi, said even in the Multan CLF around 12,000 children ended up coming so the count for Lahore would hopefully be higher. She said this was the 59th edition of the festival since 2011 and they had not just concentrated on big cities but also districts and towns.

“We have taken the festival from Turbat to Mithi to Swabi and Mardan and all the other places in Pakistan because we know that children there also need to participate in such events,” said Baela speaking to Dawn.

She said there would be some interesting sessions where children would learn about robotics and the digital world, performing arts, musical concerts, storytelling, pottery making, and several other activities.

“There will also be two young authors, Wania Sakib from Karachi and Moiz Sohail from Lahore, who will launch their books,” she added. Rumana Husain’s Jingles in the Jungles a bilingual book and Paani Ki Kahani by Sarwat Mohiuudin will be launched as well as many Oxford University Press titles.

The minister of higher education and tourism will inaugurate the festival which would have a Basant-themed session too. Other sessions and activities include storytelling with expression and music, appreciating poetry/prose in Urdu/English, book launches, mobile bus libraries, art of book making, digital story writing, heritage for the 21st century-Hamaray Khazanay treasure hunt, STEAM- let’s understand science for life, design and robotics, active citizenship for environment preservation tolerance & diversity, plenary on promoting active libraries, portrayal of girls & women in children’s literature, right to education and child protection, Cinema Ghar, theatre, Bol Keh Lab Azaad Hain Teray, book fair and Lo Phir Basant Aaye. There will also be arts and crafts and activity stalls.

“We have also made sure that the festival is all-inclusive, celebrating diversity,” said Baela.

The persons and organizations that have made contributions for holding the festival and are expected to participate in it are Amjad Islam Amjad, Dr Arfa Syeda Zehra, Khaled Anum, Rumana Husain, Fauzia Minallah, Syeda Basarat Kazim, Alif Laila Book Bus Library, Adeel Hashmi, Faiz Ghar, SAHA, Abbas Rashid, McDonalds, Shehrazade Alam, Amra Alam, Nasreen Iqbal, Sarwat Mohiuddin, Narmeen Altaf Hamid, Raheela Baqai, OUP, British Council, Children Library Complex, Ufaq Ehsan, Qaiser Rashid, Bina Jawad, Harsukh, Hareem Sumbul Bari, Citizens’Archives of Pakistan, State Bank of Pakistan Museum, Rakae Rahman Jamil, Laal Band-Taimur Rahman, Aizaz Sohail, Lalarukh – Science Fuse, Learn OBOTS, Oxbridge, Khwarizmi Science Society, Plan 9-PITB, Sanjan Nagar Public Education Trust (SNPET) and Higher Secondary School, Chughtai Public Library, Atif Badar, Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi, Drama-Shrama and Peter Jacob.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2019