HCM CITY — A series of reading activities targeting children has been launched on the HCM City Book Pedestrian Street to celebrate Vietnamese Book Day (April 21).

Võ Văn Long, deputy director of the municipal Department of Information and Communications, said “The event aims to honour and promote the reading habit and encourage cultural agencies and organisations to focus on developing the habit among youth.”

“Themed Mở Cửa Tương Lai (Opening the Future), this year’s programme will include several activities to develop reading habit for children,” he added.

The celebration, to take place from April 20-26, was organised by the city’s Department of Information and Communications and the southern representative office of Việt Nam Publishers Association.

The event features more than 12,300 titles, including 4,400 works for children, released by the city’s major publishers and distributors such as Trẻ (Youth) Publishing House, Kim Đồng Publishing House and Phương Nam Book.

The organisers have set up a kid zone where hundreds of books about science are displayed. Games related to science, mathematics and technology are being offered to develop children’s creativity.

The Việt Nam Publishers Association has a corner introducing the most read books to readers. These books, chosen by experienced writers and publishers, feature Vietnamese culture, history and literature by both young and veteran authors.

An exhibition of 40 photos of daily activities on the book street can also be seen.

A talk show on book copyright will be held on April 23, which will be led by Nguyễn Mạnh Quý, former head of the Copyright Office of HCM City and Phan Vũ Tuấn, head of Phan Law Việt Nam and deputy chairman of the HCM City Intellectual Property Association.

During the event, all bookstores on the book street on Nguyễn Văn Bình Street in District 1 will offer a 20 per cent discount on all books. — VNS