Young readers find trove at book fair

Fairy tales, ghost stories, myths and comics strips feature invariably highly on the priority list of young readers, and it was evident at the Ekushey book fair yesterday, with kids browsing stalls which are selling the books.

Samanta, 4, came with her mother for the first time, and was happy to have the book "Bagh Mamar Golpo" (story of the tiger). "I love to read about tiger and jackal," she said.

Hafiz Uddin, another visitor, bought a magic book for his grandson Sharif. 

For Avro, visiting the fair has been an annual ritual since he was two months old. The six-year-old's passion for books has grown over the years.  

Avro's mother Samia said, "I read out books to him since he was two months old...I want him to grow love for books."

SM Arif, a businessman, came all the way from Chittagong with his two children -- Sekandar Md Abrar and Ruwaida Arif. "They love books. So I came here to buy them some."

Bangla Academy, Shishu Kishore Academy, Tuntuni, Toitumbur, Chhotoder Boi, Kishore Bhuban, Patabahar, Shishu Prokash and Sisimpur are selling children's books.

Ferdous, a salesman of Tuntuni, said they were getting a good response from young readers.

On the second day of the month-long fair, seven new books were launched.

A discussion was also held to mark the 60th founding anniversary of Bangla Academy.

Litterateurs Fazle Rabbi, Azizur Rahman Aziz, Begum Aktar Kamal and Mohit Kamal took part in the discussion, saying the academy had been an integral part of the cultural history of the country. They hoped for more contribution of the academy.

Bangla Academy will hold an international poetry festival today. The first session will start in the Abdul Karim Sahityabisharad Auditorium at 10:00am, and the second one at the central stage of the fair at 4:00pm.