Literature fest to immerse kids in the world of books

CHENNAI: To celebrate the imagination and magic of storytelling among children, Glassbox is organising a literature festival, titled Tic Tac Toe’s Kids Literary Fest. It will be a two-day celebration focusing on creativity, storytelling and reading. “Kids have this amazing ability to soak themselves completely into the stories they hear. It’s also a chance for them to be inspired by prose, poetry and literature in a way that is relatable and accessible to them,” starts Supriya, founder of Glassbox.

In these couple of days, kids get a chance to interact with renowned storytellers and children’s authors namely Debjani, Lakshmi Priya, Praba Ram, Lavanya Srinivas and Janaki Sabesh, who bring their unique touch to the fest. Illustrator and calligraphy artist Rahi and Sreshta Suresh will conduct workshops. Additionally, Sumeetha Manikandan will enchant the audience with a storytelling session on Ponniyin Selvan. Kids can participate in the story writing competition on both days from 3 pm to 7 pm.

Praba Ram, one of the children’s authors, says that reading helps kids to understand the world better and connect with people. “I liked the idea of introducing picture books at an early stage to kids. I wanted to try my hand at writing after reading books to my kids,” says the author with more than a decade of experience in writing. Her books focus on environment, wildlife, STEM and disability.

Praba feels that it is important to conduct lit fest and community events as the amount of distraction has increased because of the advent of social media. “Reading helps children enhance their imaginative power, storytelling, communication, problem-solving and writing skills. It is our responsibility to transfer the reading culture to a broader community,” affirms the 47-year-old. She adds that schools should start pitching in for lit fests and instill the habit of reading from an early age.

Enjoy the literary journey at the Tic Tac Toe’s Kids Lit Fest at the Phoenix Marketcity and Palladium on January 6 and 7.