There are just too many things I wanted to share about Pustaka Bookaroo Festival of Children’s Literature that ended its second edition in Kuching recently. The festival which aims to bring children and books together, culminated in a 2-day fiesta of storytelling, crafts, doodling and activities on 16-17 April.
Here are some highlights from my Pustaka Bookaroo experience.
House-Mate
I checked in at Permai Rainforest Resort and found out that I was to share a chalet with a stranger. I had arranged to share a room with Heidi, the madam who wrote The Door Under the Stairs series of chapter books that I illustrated. But there were two rooms in the chalet and someone called Valentina Trivedi from India had already checked in earlier to the second room. Valentina turned out to be great! Valentina is a funny, friendly and gracious storyteller from New Delhi with a passion for educating and bringing kids up right. Now Heidi and I will be plotting for ways to find funding for a visit to a new found friend from India.
Moments of Self Importance
Actually, there were several…walking into Pusaka Negeri Sarawak on the first day and seeing my name on a card at the author signing table, walking into the Author’s lounge area and getting pinned with a fancy ribbon with my name on it, being asked to autograph books that people were actually buying, and having all those helpful and eager volunteers from the colleges (SEGI I think) escorting me to the designated venues and addressing me as “Miss” very respectfully. I honestly felt like a VIP!
