Lady Maiden Alex-Ibru Launches 2019 Akada Children’s Book (ACBF)

Lady Maiden Alex-Ibru, the publisher and chairman of The Guardian Newspapers Limited launched the 2019 edition of the Akada Children’s Book Festival (ACBF) last weekend at the British Council, Lagos.

The ACBF is an initiative of the publisher of Clever Clogs Books, Olubunmi Aboderin Talabi and is the first ever book festival focusing on children, arguably. The ACBF targets children 13 years and below, parents, teachers and guardians as well as those who create child-appropriate content.

At the launch event, Lady Alex-Ibru emphasized the importance of reading, noting that the name of the festival came from the word academy. She added “If you don’t read, you can’t become an akada.” She also read excerpt of a book to the kids who were present at the event.

Scheduled as a one-day festival, the event was designed to showcase children’s books written by African authors or books written by authors from around the world for children of colour.

The festival will also feature relevant activities such as workshops for writers and illustrators, authors’ showcase, interactive and engaging workshops for children, soft skills master classes for teachers and parents and a whole lot more.

Speakers to be featured at the workshops will be a selection of thought leaders from a wide variety of fields to include publishing, public speaking, entertainment, digital media, parenting and educational sectors of Nigeria.