Amid the splendid Dehradun Book Fair underway in the Doon valley’s Parade Ground, it was indeed a special day for schoolchildren who gathered here to witness the storytelling session conducted by Ratna Manucha, principal of little Flower School. Students from schools including Carman, Marshall’s and Montessori attended the session alongwith their teachers.The session was aimed at creating a love for reading and books among students by narrating interesting stories to them.
Ms.Manucha,who has written several books for children, held the attention of the children throughout the session with her dramatic and voice modulation skills.She has the talent of understanding the minds of children well and this came to the fore at the storytelling. She spoke to them of a poetic rendering of the story of Cinderella with a humourous touch. And then there was the tale of how the rabbit came to have such long ears! Illustrator Viky Arya from New Delhi was busy making illustrations on the story board while Manucha told the stories.
On September 17, she had participated in a panel discussion on how to promote the habit of reading for pleasure among children.
The book fair ,organised by the National Book Trust, will conclude on September 20. It was inaugurated by Governor Dr.KK Paul on September 12.
The huge variety of books at the fair is amazing. From literature to history, from linguistics to fairytales, from fiction to biographies , from poetry to politics–hundreds of books on each subject are available. Journalism students are finding books that were not available to them otherwise.
The workshops and seminars organised by the NBT alongwith the fair have been specially educational and entertaining for school children as well as other visitors to the fair. looking at the fair, one gets the feeling that some more sustained efforts like this one in Dehradun would surely go a long way in ensuring that the love for reading is revived and our younger generation picks up this rewarding habit of reading.
Among the well-known publishers who have put up books at the fair are NBT, Sahitya Akademi, Vani Publications, Rajkamal, Prabhat ,Kitabghar and Dhad.