Inquirer 'Read-Along' a good read at 1 yr old
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:32:00 05/10/2008
MANILA, Philippines--A two-day bookfair of well-loved titles for children and young adults and a photo exhibit of celebrity readers and their audience kicked off the first year anniversary celebration of the Inquirer Read-Along program Friday.
Publishing companies Scholastic, Vibal and Abiva brought to the Philippine Daily Inquirer office in Makati City, their newest and most popular titles of storybooks and activity books which are on sale until Saturday at reduced prices (up to 70-percent discount). Also available are books for young adults, multimedia items, educational toys and reference books. The bookfair is open to the public.
Capping the anniversary celebration is the Read-Along session set Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Inquirer office. Celebrity moms Lani Mercado and Daphne Oseña-Paez are the featured readers along with Alitaptap and Sophia School storytellers. The session's theme is "Amazing Moms (Amazing Year!)."
On Thursday night, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye graced the opening of the Inquirer Read-Along photo exhibit.
Featuring more than 40 pictures of celebrity readers and volunteer storytellers who have participated in the program for the past year, the exhibit was formally launched by Bunye, along with Inquirer publisher Isagani Yambot and editor in chief Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc.
"I would like to congratulate the Inquirer for launching this very laudable project," said Bunye during the launch. "Reading opens a lot of avenues, especially for the young. It excites the imagination. We have a saying: If you want to lead, you must learn how to read. This is something that should be continued, and even adopted by other groups."
Discounts
At the bookfair Friday, Vibal offered discounts of up to 30 percent on their storybooks, coloring and activity books, as well as their multimedia items. Jed Mariñas, Vibal's curriculum support materials coordinator, said their bestsellers were the activity books which sold for as low as P10.
Reference books and hardbound storybooks, on the other hand, were the best sellers in Abiva's nook, which offered discounts of up to 70 percent, according to Adrian Halcon, Abiva's display coordinator.
Book drive
Vibal donated four boxes of children's books to the Inquirer book drive.
For its part, Scholastic pledged to donate one book to the book drive for every item it would sell at the bookfair, said Scholastic coordinator Rina Vargas.
The books will be given away during the Inquirer Read-Along sessions, especially to participants from the urban poor.
Initiative of Inquirer Research
The Inquirer Read-Along program was launched on May 6 last year as an initiative of the Inquirer Research Department, Inquirer Library and the Junior Inquirer. Its aim is to promote love of reading among children aged seven to 13 through storytelling sessions with celebrity readers and volunteer storytellers.
Held every second and fourth Saturdays of the month at the Inquirer office, the program has had a total of 30 sessions featuring over 40 celebrity readers.
As the program grew over the course of a year, it has held storytelling sessions in venues outside the Inquirer office, including an orphanage, the Philippine General Hospital and the malls.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer is a parent company of INQUIRER.net.
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