The 31st edition of the must visit Children’s Book opened yesterday, but following the attacks, the atmosphere looks grim. Far from giving up, the show reacts and adapts.
If it was still a doubt, the early hours of 31 ° Book Fair held in Youth Montreuil from December 2 to 7, would have definitely risen. Sylvie Vassallo, Director of the Exhibition, and his team had decided, following the attacks of 13 November, to maintain this event because “books, meetings with authors, contribute to key children to understand what is happening around them, give them a hold on the world, allows them to dream, to imagine, helps them grow “.
School deserted
Yesterday, the crowd pressed in the opening, as usual. “I feel that if we had canceled the event, we would have struggled to look in the mirror today. Of course we had to make important safety measures, but what would that have served to postpone the two or three months Salon? Security issues, unfortunately, will arise a long time, we must learn to live with. The Show is a place for meetings, exchanges, collective experiences, discovery of the other, for some children, this is a unique opportunity, sometimes the only of the year, to discover books, talking with authors and illustrators, how could we deprive them? “
Traditionally, the Fair hosts many classes accompanied by teachers. This year, most groups have canceled their visit, the ban on school trips who have been waived by the Ministry of Education on Wednesday morning. Only 30 of 300 groups and will travel and lounge opened without the hubbub of classes. “Most groups do not have time to re-register says Sylvie Vassallo, that’s why we decided to relocate part of the meetings. 40% of these, planned as part of the show, will happen in the classroom, are the authors and illustrators who will move. Similarly, every year, the Seine-Saint-Denis département council distributes vouchers to children’s books department classes to enable them to purchase, at the exhibition, a book, an album or a BD. We decided to use these vouchers to buy books books and bring them in classes to students. And we will distribute invitations to the fair for the children to come with their parents or grandparents. This year the show will be part decentralized, virtual. But alive. “
An additional day
Adults are invited by the show to become ” ambassadors of students who will not be there “, to accompany their children and grandchildren, to offer them a book, to do autograph by these authors. This weekend, Sylvie Vassallo hope that families will come, as usual. And the last day, Monday, December 7, normally reserved for professionals, will be open to all. “ We must show that we hold good. Culture, literature is needed more than ever in the exceptional circumstances that we live . “
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