A three-day festival for young readers
A three-day fiesta for young readers starts tomorrow at Athens Municipality’s Technopolis arts complex. The National Book Center of Greece (EKEBI) and Technopolis are holding their annual event to include International Children’s Book Day on Saturday, celebrated on the birthday of Hans Christian Andersen. Thousands of children’s books from 53 publishers, performances, educational toys and workshops in theater, music and art are awaiting young book lovers, who will also have the chance to meet some of their favorite writers. The exhibitions, on show in Building D12, are: «Barefoot Images,» with original works by 31 Greek illustrators; «Children Paint Greece,» with paintings from the collection of the Museum of Greek Children’s Art; and «Paper-Cut Designs by Hans Christian Anderson,» curated by the Danish Institute in Athens. On Saturday night, also in D12, will be the annual award of the Greek Children’s Book Circle. International Children’s Book Day was founded by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) in 1996. Every year since then a different country has produced a message and a poster for the day, which is then distributed worldwide. This year is India’s turn and the message, written by leading children’s writer Manorama Jafa, is «Books are my magic eyes.» The poster, inspired by Indian mythology, was designed by Jagdish Joshi. The Greek Children’s Book Circle – the local branch of IBBY – prints the poster and a leaflet with the message and sends them to schools and school libraries all over Greece. Technopolis, 100 Pireos, Gazi. April 1-3, 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
