Children's books make a comeback in digital era at Kolkata Book Fair 2019

Kolkata: The city of bibliophiles has currently been swept up in the Boi Mela craze as thousands are seen flocking to the Central Park mela grounds every day.

In this digital era, where children are being constantly bombarded by electronic gadgets, social media and the internet and in turn, developing a lack of 'reading habit', the 43rd edition of the International Kolkata Book Fair has seen a sharp rise in the number of children's books being sold this year.

"The sales of children's books has drastically increased, with a surge of almost 10 to 15 percent. Books like Gopal Bhar, Thakurmar Jhuli, Feluda, Byomkesh Bakshi, Ramayan and Mahabharat have been best-sellers among children between the age group of 5 and 12. Apart from that, children are also flocking towards comic strips, general knowledge and moral science books, which have a lot of pictures," said Arindam Rai, a book- seller at Chatterjee Publishers.

Another book-seller at the fair, Rita Chatterjee of Children's Pavillion, said that their sales of children's books have skyrocketed as the publishers have brought out books which are adaptations of different cartoons and television shows that the children watch these days, such as Chota Bheem, Doraemon and Motu Patlu.

Subhojit Guha, an artist and father of a 5-year-old who has decided to let his daughter select the kind of book she wants to buy at the fair, said that the book fair should be held at least thrice a year as a large number of youngsters have been unable to attend the fair due to the upcoming Class 10 and 12 exams.

He further added: "When we keep away the children from mobile phones and playstations and nurture a reading habit in them, in due time the books become their companion."

Sanjukta Mitra, a librarian and mother of another 5-year-old, said: "I have been reading bedtime stories to my child from the age of one. Now at the age of five, she has developed a habit of reading different kinds of books ranging from general knowledge to moral science, which are mostly in English as they also help her improve her language skills".

The fair, which commenced on January 30 with much fervour, will end on February 10.