With only four days left of the Amar Ekushey Book Fair in Dhaka, children flocked to the fair, especially at the Kid’s corner on Friday.
Parents thronged the Bangla Academy premises with their kids like every weekly holiday during “Shishu Prohor” - special hours designated for the children from 11am to 1pm.
Popular puppet show Sisimpur’s characters, including Haloom, Ikri, Tuktuki and Shiku, welcomed the children to a stage that was decorated colourfully.
Children were seen busy choosing different types of books, including comics, fairy tales or fiction, and passing time with the puppet characters.
Some sellers at the book fair said everyday children visit the fair accompanied by their parents or guardians, but the number increases significantly at the weekends.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the month-long Amar Ekushey Book Fair, the annual event of book lovers and publishers, on February 1 in the capital.
The book fair is arranged every year in February commemorating the sacrifices of people who laid down their lives on February 21, 1952, for establishing Bangla as the mother tongue.
The traditional Amar Ekushey Book Fair began informally in 1972 on the Bangla Academy premises. The academy officially took the responsibility of arranging the fair regularly, every year in 1978.
It was then named Amar Ekushey Grantha Mela and a guideline was laid out in this regard in 1984.
