“In 1955, the Ministry of Culture organized the “Children’s Book Week” for the first time at the “Vasil Kolarov” State Library and aimed to provide “a vivid picture of the achievements of children’s literature over the past ten years”. The Children’s Book Week should promote children’s fiction among the youngest readers – to find out what they think, what they want and what they prefer.”*
*Part of Milena Radeva’s research on “Children’s Book Week”, which we will soon publish.
Nearly 60 years later, the National Book Center and the National Palace of Culture are making an attempt to revive the “Children’s Book Week”. In the year dedicated specifically to children’s books, the National Palace of Culture and the “Peroto” literary club will open their doors to the youngest from June 1 to 7. The idea starts from the concept of working with children who have talents and interest in the field of writing. "They are thirsty for information, examples and experience from adults - concrete experience that they can share," explained Dr. Victoria Biserova during the round table at the National Children's Book Festival in Sliven.
The organizers see the "Children's Book Week" not as a single event, but as the beginning of an old tradition. Next year, different regional cities will be covered, and the program will be divided into three days. Varna is one of the host cities, which is already known.
During the seven-day forum, various writers and artists have been invited to work with children. Of course, there will be many awards and competitions. Among the highlights for this year are: a competition for invented words; a special focus will be on the Bulgarian language with Pavlina Varbanova from “How to Write”; Vanya Shtereva will help with scriptwriting; Boryana Dukova will work with the field of forensics; various techniques for illustrations, collages and text interpretation will be presented by illustrators Nusha Royanova and Yana Kazakova; Zornitsa Hristova will participate with “Urban Geography” and “Ice Cream Rhetoric”; there will also be many readings, discussions and more. The campaign is aimed at children in two age groups – 7-10 and 11-14 years old.
The week’s program will open with a very interesting format “Children Read to Parents”, in which children will share their favorite books with adults.
Photo: Milena Radeva
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