The Valley of Words/Shabdavali International Literature and Arts Festival, within the domain of its Children’s Literature program dedicated a one day event to its five shortlisted authors, 2023 under the Children Literature Category hosted by Himjyoti School institutional partner for the vertical.
Nine esteemed schools from Dehradun: Brooklyn School, Doon International School, Himjyoti School, Greenwood Hills, Mondrian House, Mount Fort Academy, The Oasis School, SummerHills International School, and Tons Bridge School actively engaged in the one day event.
The proceedings commenced with the lighting of the ceremonial lamp by the esteemed Chief Guest for the event, Mr. Bharat Jyoti, Director IGNFA, Dr. Sanjeev Chopra, Festival Director, Ms Rashmi Chopra Chairperson VoW, Curator Ms. Jyoti Dhawan & Ruma Malhotra, Principal of Himjyoti school.
Creative book reading sessions included reading, reciting, puppeteering and enactments with props that brought to life VoW shortlisted books: “The Girl Who Climbed Mountains” by Lavanya Karthik, “Jhupli’s Honey Box” by Achintyarup Ray, “Hum Jungle Ke Jagar Magar” by Raj Shekhar, “Where Is Molly?-I must smell everything by Natasha Sharma and “The Monster Who Couldn’t Climb a Tree” by Tanya Majumdar.
Alongside an array of activities designed around the shortlisted books such as Book Review, Crossword and Book reading/enactment. The students showcased remarkable performances that captivated the attendees including parents, grandparents, principals and teachers. There were one-on-one sessions with the three authors moderated and curated by students of Himjyoti School.
Thanking the young students, VoW authors, the host Himjyoti School and curator of the event Jyoti Dhawan, Dr Sanjeev Chopra, Festival Director said, “Thank you for an absolutely wonderful interaction and free exchange of ideas. It’s not just very important for the children but everybody present here today. We take something new with us every time we have one such event”.
Mr. Rakesh Oberoi, briefly addressed the audience and spoke about how Himjyoti School came into existence and how it was a dream for his close friend and the former Governor of Uttarakhand, Mr. Sudarshan Agarwal. “It is very difficult to describe him but he had a lot of love, a lot of passion and compassion for everybody. He could not see anyone in trouble”, he said while talking about the former governor.
Shri. Shiv Kumar Aggarwal also congratulated Himjyoti School and the Vow team for organising such a special event for the young minds.
With each passing year, the VoW Children Vertical has seen a growing number of schools and students coming forward to participate in the event which is curated keeping young students in mind with the aim to nurture fun and excitement of learning through storytelling.
In its third year running, VoW|Shabdavali thanks its institutional partner Himjyoti School and its staff, the participating schools and its teachers, young tweens for joining VoW|Shabdavali in its vision of aspiring and inspiring young minds to the enchantment of written words and the boundless creativity that springs from the pages of literature.
And the winners under the performances based on the shortlisted books are:
The Girl who Climbed Mountains
– Doon International School
where is Molly ? I must smell everything
– Mondrian High School
Hum Jungle ke jagar magar
– Mount Fort Academy
The Monster who could not climb the Tree
– Tons Bridge School
Jhupli’s Honey Box
– Mount Fort Academy
