One Book, Two Books…

The Bookerini International Book Fair for children's literature

Ana-Maria Cononovici, 29.10.2019, 15:13

An old Romanian proverb says that ‘In the autumn, count your ducklings’, referring to the start of school. And because vacation is over, let’s get back to serious things, but things that can be very pleasant too. Our interlocutor, Valentina Bacu, coordinates the Bookerini international book fair for kids.

We asked her where she got the idea:

“There was a need for little readers to have a place of their own, where they can sit down with books written for them, where they feel appreciated, because they get to meet the writers and illustrators. We have had more and more books for kids coming out lately. A lot is being written and translated, there is more and more literature for children. Bookerini was an idea we got going to international book fairs in other countries, and made us enthusiastic, we the people who love kids’ books. We ran a test on the Romanian market, to find out if such an event was needed at that time. The first edition was held two years ago at the Verona Carturesti bookstore, and it was a confirmation. It convinced us that we need a project aimed at kids, and here we are with the second edition, with twice as many guests, both from Romania and abroad, and twice as many participants.

We asked Valentina Bacu, fair coordinator, what the organizers of the event in Bucharest hoped to achieve:

“It is a really good thing that this is going on. Compared to two years ago, we had a large number of publishers who took the initiative in promoting domestic literature. We’ve had translated children’s literature for years, but now there is a trend to encourage Romanian literature, and we are glad that both large and small publishers think the same thing. We believe that soon we will have a literature written by people who will make a living writing, and people who will make a living drawing illustrations. Right now authors of children’s books have to have a second source of income, literature for them is just a hobby, and a costly one at that. We don’t have enough agents and publishers. Bookerini is not exclusively for children, it is also for lovers of literature written for kids. We believe such literature is not just for the little ones, we want to engage parents and children, whom we encourage to develop a taste for beautiful, quality books. And we find this very valuable.

This year’s edition was centered on the idea of traveling, according to the fair’s Facebook page. Here organizers placed all sorts of tempting offers: (Quote) ‘How do we travel? On foot, by boat on the river, with a balloon, or any other means of transportation created by your imagination that takes us within a story. All you need to do is plan your #Trip ahead of time, especially to places where you need a reservation, because tickets are running out fast. Check the schedule, invite your friends, and get registered for the workshop or activity that you are sure you can reach.’

That is because the activities and workshops in the four days of the fair are free, and limited in number, so that all the participants were the ones that booked their tickets ahead of time. .

The motto of the event is ‘Bookerini – We Devour Good Books!’. According to Valentina Bacu, coordinator of the Bookerini event, they had a plan to stimulate the desire to read in children and parents alike:

“We invited them to the second edition with strong, beautiful titles, which we present as artifacts. We want the third edition to have even more guests from abroad. We need in Romania a certain level of enthusiasm, and we also want Bookerini to provide an environment where writers and illustrators can find contracts. For the next edition we want a bigger team, we want a wider space, a beautiful space that invites kids to listen to stories, because we want to provide them with an original experience, to fascinate them. We want them to leave happy, carrying autographed books, and to tempt them into spending their spare time like this, reading books and giving them as gifts. Participation in the fair, with all the workshops and activities, is free of charge, but the number of participants is limited. Our recommendation is to make bookings ahead of time.

As part of the activities that guests at the fair could enjoy were meeting their favorite author, or drawing sitting next to their favorite illustrators. This event was held at the Romanian National Library.