Over 15,000 titles from more than 130 publishers in Bulgaria housed in 60 tents, many premieres and a rich cultural daily program. This will be offered by the 15^th  Spring Book Bazaar in Sofia, which starts on May 30 and will run until June 5 in the park in front of the National Palace of Culture.

During this year's edition, the 5^th Sofia International Literary Festival for Children and Youth will be held, which will have a separate stage with a program dedicated to the love of reading, literature and functional literacy among adolescents.

The International Children's Day - June 1 will be a special highlight of the literary week, which will become a real holiday for the little lords of the letters, Desislava Alexieva, chairwoman of the “Bulgarian Book” Association, said in an interview for Radio Bulgaria.

"The whole program this year has been selected to be suitable for a children's audience. There will be many premieres, including children's writer Petya Kokudeva. There will be special workshops in which book separators, book covers and many other interesting and curious events will be made,” Alexieva explains.
On June 1, the book “Koi pripka za ribka” (Who’ll rush out for the fish) by Petja Aleksandrova and illustrator artist Nevena Angelova will be presented. The book was honoured by the Munich Library as one of the 200 most significant editions of 2021.

The main motto this year at the Spring Bazaar is "Literacy”. Here is why:

"All research in the field of literacy, and functional literacy in particular, shows that reading books is a major factor in the development of this human skill. The more children read for pleasure, the higher academic results they achieve, not only on standardized tests in schools, but also in their daily lives. That is why we are dedicating the festival to this topic and we want to once again state the great need for new titles in libraries and to invest in initiatives to promote reading. For this reason, within the festival we continue the extremely successful initiative of the "Book March", as there will be daily events in which celebrities will read to children, which will further provoke their interest”, she explains.

Despite the need for a national strategy in this area, Alexieva is adamant that true love for reading is nurtured in the family and that parents play a key role in it.

"As part of the festival, we have organized a lecture for parents to tell them about the most common myths and mistakes about reading and give them ideas on how they can make reading interesting and fun for children. And not only at an early age, but also at school age, when children begin to develop all-round interests and reading usually goes into the background. It is a myth, for example, that when a child starts reading on his or her own, it is not necessary for us, adults, to do it aloud. On the contrary, the time we spend with the child reading together, whether they can do it alone or not, is a very important part of cultivating a love of books. It is the personal example that leaves a very strong imprint in the child’s mind," says Desislava Alexieva.

Traditionally, the Institute of Bulgarian Language at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences participates in all events of the Bulgarian Book Association. During the Spring Book Bazaar, they will organize literacy competitions in which everyone can check their level of knowledge and learn about the latest changes in Bulgarian grammar. Something very important, according to the chairman of the Association, because the language is alive and changing with us, which requires us to constantly read and educate ourselves every day.

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And did the time spent at home during the Covid-19 pandemic awaken this desire for new knowledge, and did books become more desirable companions in our daily lives?

27.05.22 Десислава Алексиева 4 "During the first lockdown, there was a really high interest in books and reading, but it gradually declined. There are many factors for this and, unfortunately, the economic situation is not easy at all - although books are really essential for our soul, when one has to choose what to buy , very often the daily necessities are ahead of the purchase of literature. Therefore, in addition to helping books "go" to people and thus increasing reading levels, our mission is to provide free access to books for all. And this is done through the libraries in every town and village."

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* The Spring Book Bazaar is organized by the Bulgarian Book Association and is part of the Calendar of Cultural Events of Sofia Municipality for 2022. This year it is held under the patronage of the Minister of Culture.

Editing by Elena Karkalanova

English version Rositsa Petkova