Telling a story: Children’s books come out at front

The stalls at the book fair boasted a wide range of books at throwaway prices.

KARACHI: With the soft hum of nursery rhymes in the background, children jumped up and down with excitement, pleading with their parents to buy them every Spiderman, Frozen and Dora the Explorer book displayed on the stalls at the 10th Karachi International Book Fair, being held at the Karachi Expo Centre.

"Yes, yes, I'm buying all three of them," an irritated mother said to her five-year-old child. The most popular among the colouring, number and alphabet books, meanwhile, were the ones that were cleverly packaged with colour pencils and markers. "We have books for children at all levels here, starting from only Rs30," said the man behind the counter.



While many stalls had their wares laid out for the visitors to choose from, a few had primary school teachers standing alongside the salespersons to advise parents what was best for their children. "Parents are often lost when it comes to selecting books that are appropriate for their children's learning levels," explained Uroosa, who teaches at the Allied School. "I am here to guide them in what they should buy."

A horde of teenagers were gathered around the magazine stall in Hall 3, sweeping Reader's Digest, GQ and other teen magazines from the stands. "We have laid out all our past stock," the grinning salesperson told The Express Tribune. "But look at the prices! Where else will you find bridal magazines worth Rs900 in the market for only Rs200?"

While there were popular novels ranging between Rs100 and Rs200, other readers lamented the lack of choice in the material available to them. "I can never find the books I'm looking for," exclaimed a student from Dawood Public School, adding that she had been searching for The Vampire Diaries for ages. "We hardly get time to sit down and read, and when we do, we can't get the books we want."

Though foreign titles printed by local publishing houses were available at considerably lowered prices, it was the books for children that were the clear winners at the book fair. "I'll give you Rs50 for this," an elderly man, propping himself up with a walking stick, haggled with a salesperson. "It's just a small puzzle-book for my grandchildren!"

Published in The Express Tribune, December 22^nd, 2014.