The traditional discussion that the National Book Center – NDK organized in the Year of the Children's Book was this time dedicated to the topic of contemporary children's books and how they reach children.
The participants in the discussion united around the thesis that special initiatives – workshops, projects, studios, etc. – help provide access to children's literature. Representatives of such initiatives participated in the discussion: Lora Filipova – executive director of the Children's Books Foundation, who presented the "Magic Pearl" competition; Olga Klisurova from the "Traveling Books of Stara Zagora" Association; Spaska Tarandova from "Global Libraries"; Petya Chalakova – organizer of the "Book March" at the Bulgarian Children's Book Association; Victoria Biserova from the "Enthusiast" publishing house – initiator of the "National Children's Book Week" and organizer of the "Old Paper for a New Book" campaign, and the moderator of the discussion was Alexander Krastev.
The participants gave details about their initiatives, the aim of which is to stimulate reading among children and to help them get to know contemporary children's literature. The discussants united around the opinion that "responsibility should not be shared only between schools and teachers, but parents should also actively participate. It is important for children to find new books at home, and for this, parental interest is necessary. Books should be in front of their eyes constantly. They should be able to see and touch them".
"This is my first time coming to "Peroto" and the first place I went was the children's corner to check out what books it has. I was very impressed. This is exactly what a children's library should look like - cozy, accessible and pleasant, so that children can come in and read. If you haven’t taken your child here yet – do it!”, urged Petya Chalakova.
Lora Filipova spoke about the “Libraries in Kindergarten” project, which aims to stimulate reading from a very early age. So far, the project has been developed in two kindergartens in Sofia, but there are inquiries from all over Bulgaria.
The last discussion in the Year of the Children’s Book will take place in December. It will be accompanied by an exhibition of young Bulgarian illustrators, many of whom work abroad, but the Bulgarian publisher does not know them. The topic is “The Millennium Generation – Illustrators. The Difficult Meeting with the Bulgarian Publisher” and will be held on December 13 at 4:30 PM in the Marble Lobby of the National Palace of Culture. The event is part of the fifth edition of the Sofia International Literary Festival. Every year the edition has an international focus, and this year it will present the literature of the Visegrad Four – Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic. The main part of the events of the festival program will take place in the Marble Lobby of the National Palace of Culture, parallel to the Book Fair.
Source: National Book Center
Photos: Milena Radeva
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