Dates: November 26th and 27th, 2022
Time: 11 AM to 4:30 PM
National Rail Museum, Chanakyapuri
Following the roaring success of the 13th edition in November last year comes Bookaroo’s 40th edition overall and the 14th in Delhi. With over 7,900 visitors thronging the splendid and picturesque National Rail Museum last time, it was heartening to see so many people braving the post pandemic environment. This year, we hope that attendance will be eclipsed.
The festival is all set to delight children and parents alike in Delhi with some scintillating storytelling, workshops, poetry, art & craft and books. As always, Bookaroo promises a weekend of non-stop fun with books as the National Rail Museum (venue partner) transforms into a fairy tale locale with its trains and exhibits, representing 160 years of railways in the country.
“At the National Rail Museum in Chanakyapuri New Delhi, we’re delighted to partner Bookaroo once again. NRM is a special place for children, youth, parents and grandparents alike! The creative adult they say, is one whose inner child is still alive. I hope Bookaroo brings many brilliant and creative minds from India and the world over to our museum; we welcome them all to a great experience filled with fascinating books and wonderful tales of travel, and of life itself,” said Vinita Srivastava, Executive Director (Heritage), Ministry of Railways.
Bookaroo’s ray of hope that was rekindled last year blazes even brighter this year and its Delhi edition will witness international participation after a gap of three years. Speakers from France, Portugal, Spain, UK, Dubai, US, Germany, Sweden will join speakers from 12 Indian cities and grace the weekend with 64 high-decibel sessions, each crafted according to the age group of the children.
For Bookaroo, the emotional comeback continues. “Every Bookaroo is like a sowing of ideas – ideas that are then carried forward by children, parents, teachers and even speakers. This edition, we hope, will be exceptional with the fantastic line-up of speakers and minutely curated sessions. We would like to thank National Rail Museum, publishers, friends, parents, teachers, our authors, illustrators, sponsors, arts councils, embassies and all those who have supported us in many, many ways,” said Swati, co-founder and festival director, Bookaroo Children’s Literature Festival.
The sessions have been specifically created for children between 4 and 14 in two-year age bands starting with 4-6. Last year was all about how Bookaroo took the first steps to bringing back some sort of normalcy in the post-pandemic reading lives of the children of Delhi after innumerable lockdowns. This year, the support from publishers across the board, arts councils and sponsors has overwhelmed us.
Highlights of Delhi 2022:
- A touch of Science: learn some easy do-it-yourself science tricks in Hindi, listen to the story of a star women scientist from India who did not receive the glory she deserved, ask some serious and funny questions and know all about science for Smartypants.
- A touch of History and architecture: board the History Express to discover ancient art galleries, temples and the coolest building in the country; test your wits – how well you know the makers of modern India – and pick up a fun fact or three! Find out all about some amazing ancient NRIs. Participate in a quiz about iconic monuments
- Poetry: write poems of your own about strange pets; discover rhythm and find out about limericks and other forms of rhymes. There is a lot of fun you can have with poetry.
- Puppets and play: a specially woven story for you with puppets on a stick; make your own puppet and take it home.. there is a toy workshop with bags of fun
- Read, write, draw, create or just listen to stories – there is something for everyone in Bookaroo.
Apart from the festival bookstore, Eureka!, that will stock all the participating authors’ and illustrators’ books, Bookaroo will also be home to a display of noteworthy, carefully curated children’s titles that are on the annual Parag Honour List, an initiative of Tata Trusts. These titles comprise three years of the PHL list – 2022, 2021 and 2020.
Entry is on a first come, first seated basis. Entry into NRM is ticketed at Rs 20 for a child and Rs 100 for an adult, but sessions at Bookaroo are free to attend. The nearest metro stations are M Visvesvaraya Moti Bagh and Lok Kalyan Marg (formerly Race Course Road). This year, you can also book your tickets ahead on the National Rail Museum website (https://www.nrmindia.org/) to avoid waiting in long queues at the venue.
Website: www.bookaroo.in
Facebook: @Bookaroolitfest
Twitter: @BookarooLitFest
Instagram: @bookaroolitfest
