(VOVworld) – Encouraging a book reading habit and promoting a reading culture for everyone, especially children, is one of the most important goals of this year’s Book and Reading Culture Festival. This increasingly popular festival was held in several provinces across Vietnam this year, attaching enthusiastic visitors.

The third Book and Reading Culture Festival 2013 took place at the Temple of Literature in Hanoi last weekend where 20 bookstores and publishing houses introduced books on a wide range of subjects for readers of all ages. At the 5-square-meter stall of Kim Dong Publishing House, small plastic chairs were equipped for children to read whatever they wanted whenever they could. Visitor Tran Thi Tuyet Trinh said her child was interested in the books published by Kim Dong despite the small exhibit space. Trinh added “I know my son likes reading so I took him to the Kim Dong booth. I hope that more events will be held in the future but in a larger space. Or at least, publishing houses which participate in the exhibition should create more space for readers.”

A festival creates an excitement that attracts children to books. But Doctor of Education Nguyen Thuy Anh who chairs the club ‘Reading books with children’ said parents play the key role in encouraging children to read books adding “for small children, parents should be the people who help them buy books and give them money to buy books. We should develop an environment where parents can talk about which books are good and how to read books in a correct way. Many parents still get confused about selecting books for their children, and getting them to read books without pressure. Activities involving the family will be more effective.”

Ms. Thuy Anh says that children need more from a book than interesting content. That’s why helping children learn to read books correctly is essential. Thuy Anh noted “For long stories, I choose a couple of paragraphs to read expressively with children. We read each part of the book one after another. This makes children feel that they are both readers and presenters and directly involved in the process. Another way to attract child readers is to use beautiful pictures in combination with music. Or we can find several parts of the story and turn them into games or puzzles to develop their imagination.”

Nguyen Thi Dao, a student of the University of Culture, shared her thoughts about the 2013 Book and Reading Culture Festival “I’m visiting the festival to learn more about the arrangement of books and participate in library activities as a way to get more practical experience and improve my communication skills as a future librarian - the navigator in the ocean of information.”

Most readers now prefer e-books to print books. And young people like cartoon books more than books with lots of words. In fact, picture-books more easing influence readers’ taste and feelings, according to Nguyen Ngoc Bao, Deputy Head of the Publishing Department of the Ministry of Information and Communication. Bao had this to say “There are geniuses whose thinking, character, and way of living have been formed and developed thanks to a simple book. This year’s festival themed ‘Books change lives’ encourages people to develop a reading culture, thereby setting a direction for themselves for the future."