Wearing colourful dresses, hundreds of cheering children walked along with their guardians, bought their favourite books and sang and danced, enjoying the Amar Ekushey Grantha Mela to the fullest during the ‘Shishu Prohor’ (hours dedicated for children) on Friday, the ninth day of the fair.
This was the third ‘Shishu Prohor’ of this year’s fair. Earlier on 2 and 3 February, children enjoyed the special arrangements made for them from 11am to 1pm.
Although a fewer number of children were seen browsing through books on the regular days of the week, two hours on the weekend were enough to make the book fair alive at the Suhrawardy Udyan part of the venue.

Two sisters Arisha Rahman, 11, and Areeba Rahman, 7, bought a number of books while visiting different stalls.
Arisha took books on horror stories and science fiction while Areeba chose books on rhymes and comic characters from the fair. Their father, however, bought two books for them on ancient civilisations, and space and the solar system.

Father of the two happy daughters Mushfiqur Rahman said, “I bring my daughters to the fair every year. I want them not to spend much time with electronic gadgets. My aim is to introduce them with the amazing and rich world of books so that they grow up with good spirit and virtues.”
The Sisimpur Chattar was the busiest spot of the fair with hundreds of children cheering for their favourite characters. A group of special children performed there before the arrival of the characters of popular TV show at 11am.
The joy of young stars reached the sky when the Sisimpur characters appeared on the stage. They welcomed them with a big cheer. Ikri, Halum, Tuktuki and Shiku sang and danced, and made the Sisimpur Chattar the centre of all attractions.

Bibhan Sarkar, a six-year-old boy, said he loves dancing with Halum and Ikri.
“Halum is my favourite character as the tiger can talk just like me. Today, Halum told me to eat small fish, fruits and vegetables regularly. Agreeing with him, I said I’ll take him with me,” the first grader at St. Joseph School said with a smile on his face.

Children also took part in drawing and recitation competitions held on the Bangla Academy premises in the morning.
The fair venue appeared to be a playground as children were hurrying from one stall to another with great excitement.

Their guardians introduced them with colourful books on stories, fairytales, rhymes, comics, mathematical games and science fiction.
Publishers, proprietors and salespersons said they were also enjoying the happy faces of children. According to them, the number of children visiting the fair is more this year compared to the previous years and they are doing good business.

Dhaka Comics, Jhinge Phul, Takdhum, Jhilmil, Taitambur, Kinder Books, Ghashphoring, Soptodinga etc. stalls were crowded with children and their guardians.
Kinder Book’s publisher Mahmudul Hasan said, “We’ve brought a number of books by popular children litterateurs like Lutfor Rahman Riton, Masud Ahmed and Moom Rahman. Our error-free texts, colourful illustration and good quality paper are making both the children and their guardians satisfied.”
The demand for colourful books on stories, fairytales, horror tales, rhymes, comics, mathematical games and science fiction was high among the little ones.
Speaking about the necessity of freedom for children in choosing books, popular author Palash Mahbub said, “Reading is very important for children. The time it takes to read a book is significant for them. There’s no point of forcing children to choose a certain subject. They should read whatever they like.”

On the ninth day of the book fair, a discussion programme titled “Remembrance: S Wazed Ali” was held at the main stage of the book fair with Prof Syed Akram Hossain in the chair.
Abu Hena Mostafa Enam presented the keynote paper while Iktiar Chowdhury and Kudrat-e-Khuda were present as discussants.

Children’s writer Rifat Nigar Shapla, researcher Md Mahbubar Rahman, poet Mashrura Lucky and fictionist Anwar Hossain Badal discussed their new books at the Lekhok Bolchi stage.
According to Bangla Academy, some 171 new books, the highest in this year’s fair in a single day, hit the stalls on the day.
Today, on the tenth day of the fair, the primary selection of a musical competition will be organised for children at Abdul Karim Shahitya Bisharad Auditorium in Bangla Academy at 10:00am.
Besides, a discussion on “Tribute on Birth Centenary: Suchitra Mitra’ will be held on the main stage of the book fair at 4:00pm.
Saim Rana will present the keynote paper while Shakil Hashmi and Anima Roy will participate in the discussion to be presided over by Mafidul Haque.