Sakal Times Bookaroo Fest begins today

Sakal Times is happy to bring the Bookaroo Festival of Children’s Literature to the city. Experience the magical world of books, with 22 authors including seven from abroad, at India’s largest children’s literature festival…

Manjiri Prabhu
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Dear children,
Here are some of the fun things that I will be doing at Bookaroo. I shall screen a lovely musical video on my novel ‘The Gypsies at Noelle’s Retreat’, which would set your heartbeats racing! I will read an extract from the novel and I shall also ask some of you to read from the book. There will be a quiz with prizes for the winners. And a fun treasure hunt with a set of clues – the one who finds the treasure will get the treasure! For aspiring writers, I shall share some pointers on creative writing. I look forward to meeting you all. . .

Martin Kiszko
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Dear children,
Green poems for a Blue Planet is challenging environmental humour at its best. The show has been a success in the UK and abroad for greenies, non-greenies and in-betweenies! From ‘green teens’ to ‘green queens’ and from environmentally friendly footballers to how to create energy from your own poo- the show aims to switch on a few green lights about what it means to be an eco-warrior.
Described by reviewers as ‘great entertainment’ and ‘sheer environmental magic’ the show also features projected illustrations by four-time Oscar winner Nick Park.

Deepak Dalal
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Dear children,
Bookaroo is a wonderful opportunity for writers and children to come together and have fun over the weekend. I want to know about the books you love. I want to know what you think of India’s vanishing forests and wildlife. I want to share with you what inspires me to write about wildlife and travel and India’s magnificent wilderness. I want to share with you why I love books and reading too.
So come along and join us.

Wendy Cooling
wendy_cooling
Dear children
We’ll have fun with words – words are part of life, of conversations and emails, but most importantly they combine to make poems and stories. We’ll make words of happiness, love, anger, surprise and make and think about the sound wonderful, weird, wild and wicked words make in our mouth and ears.
Choosing the richest words, we can imagine, we would try to weave them together into a magical Bookaroo Bhool Bhulaiyya.

Greystroke
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Dear children,
The fun thing I’m going to do this weekend at Bookaroo is to teach you how to draw jolly cartoons of people and animals. And guess what? I’ll show you how you can do it in just 8 simple steps! I’m also going to teach you how you can make a caricature of some of your favourite people in the world. So, find out how you can draw too!

Jeeva Raghunath
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Dear loved ones!
Once upon a time, there lived Aunty Jeeva. She loved to tell stories…whenever she opened her mouth a story would pour out. Everyone was surprised…the word spread around….soon it reached the king. The king was sad because his daughter was never happy. All the doctors tried their best to cure her but nothing worked. The king asked Aunty jeeva to come to the palace. Aunty Jeeva met the sad princess and told her stories!!! The princess laughed and cried and sang and danced. Finally she had received the best gift in the world, STORIES.
Join Aunty Jeeva’s journey!!!

Rukhsana Khan
rukhsana_khan
Dear children,
These are some of the fun things I’ll be doing at Bookaroo! Telling funny stories about growing up in Canada, feeling different, dealing with some obnoxious bullies and giving them their due! And learning that one person can make a difference with stories that touch people across cultures.

Ameen ul Haque, The Storywallahs
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Dear children,
You are in for some serious fun and time travel as stories transport you to times and places far away from Pune. We will sing along and guess songs as I tell stories about why the Sun rises everyday, which is the most beautiful bird on the planet and why we should believe in our dreams. The stories will not only answer your questions but will stay with you long after the festival is over and The Storywallahs gone back.
Because stories stay…

Naomi Kojima
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Dear children,
At the Doodle Wall, we will go on a flying adventure. How will you fly? With wings of your own? In a spaceship? On a hot air balloon, or a kite? Or on the back of a flying horse? There are so many ways to fly, you will be surprised! In ‘Writing with Pictures, Drawing with Words’, we will find out where story ideas come from. Then we will make a little book together, and this will be the beginning of a story of your adventure.

Janaki Galappatti
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Dear children,
This weekend at Bookaroo, I shall be doing one of my favourite things: reading to you from some truly lovely books by some wonderful authors, and telling you stories. I have three grandchildren who are 7, 4 and nearly 3 years old and most of the stories that I shall be reading are ones that they particularly enjoy, so I am sure you will too.
I look forward to sharing these books and stories with you!