The 3rd edition of the Akada Children’s Book Festival which held online on the 1st-3rd of July 2021 was a huge success. The event was fully packed with entertaining and educational content from guests and speakers and recorded registrations of over 2255 attendees from Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Rwanda, United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Ireland, Belgium, Norway and 13 other countries. The event which held over a period of 3 days featured 66 speakers, 64 sessions, 38 books, 35 authors, 29 exhibitors, 14 illustrators and artists, 6 special guests, 3 performing artists and 12 sponsors.
The festival opened with professional workshops for authors, illustrators, publishers, content creators and everyone in the children’s book sector with impactful sessions such as “Write Like A Pro” facilitated by Sarah Odedina and Deborah Ahenkorah of Accord Literary; “Insights into Being A Publisher” by Mrs. Gbemi Shasore of Quramo Publishing; “The Dangers of Self-Editing” where Coco Anetor-Sokei expatiated on the need for external editors amongst others.
Day Two of the festival was dedicated to teachers and parents and the facilitators of each session held it down with informative topics such as “Reading to Children with Special Needs” by Tonye Faloughi-Ekezie; “Raising Independent and Resilient Learners” by Craig Heaton and “Developing the Entrepreneurial Streak in Your Children” by Bowale Agboade. Other sessions were “A Busy Parent’s Guide: Creating Endearing Memories with Your Children” facilitated by Toyin Onigbanjo. Day Two ended with a session on “Raising Moneywise Children” by Olubunmi Aboderin Talabi, convener of the Akada Children’s Book Festival.
Saturday, July 3rd 2021 which was the last day and grand finale of the Akada Children’s Book Festival 2021, was dedicated to the children. It was indeed a rich array of fun learning activities for the whole family with booking readings by special guests such as The Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson; Baroness Lola Young; Ibrahim Suleiman, Juliana Olayode and Jude Idada.
Authors, such as Joseph Aderoju; Ndidi Chiazor-Enenmor; Nnenna Ochiche and Yejide Kilanko led interactive mini workshops and story time sessions, whilst young reading enthusiasts shared insights into their favorite children’s books and why they love them.
Author of “Max, the Footballer”, Oluwadarasimi Fagbayi, premiered the young authors spotlight, a session of the festival that was created to celebrate young authors. Two other young authors Temilolouwa Modele, author of “The Life of An Exciting and Brilliant Boy and Amy Abu author of “Iremide The Singing Sensation” also read from their work.
Other fun family bonding activities that took place on Day 3 of the festival include the Happy Tunes Sing-a-long segments as well as the dance sessions by Safari Fitness; the work out sessions by Maje Ayida; and comedy by Davidysn. Alex Unusual was the 2021 Festival Host and Michelle Oshiotse was announced as the winner of the 2021 Akada Children’s Book Festival Illustration Competition.
Many attendees and guests who couldn’t hold back their excitement were effusive in their praise for the festival:
“The event was held online and in words, IT WAS BRILLIANT. I can’t speak more highly of any event I have attended online. Kudos to the ACBF founder and the entire team, I learnt so much”- I.A.
“Permit me to say the Akada Children’s Book Festival is the best national event that has ever been executed for the Nigerian child so far. – S.F.
‘Well done to the ACBF team, for an awesome job done. Using storytelling to drive home values and skills is a learning method we have adopted”- Tunnizze Children’s School, Ogun State
The Akada Children’s Book Festival was by many standards a huge success and has made significant marks as a useful tool for informal education.
The ACBF 2021 magazine is available for download at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uni1WfI8h_lPtwviFWKk2GkPUbhaWXV6/view?usp=sharing
Those who registered before the end of the festival still have access to the videos for free by going to akadafestival.org and logging in with their passcode.
Anyone who didn’t register before or during the festival can also access the footage for a fee of N20,000. Visit akadafestival.org for more details.
For media related inquiries, please contact: Funmbipopoola@roberttaylormedia.com
About Akada Children’s Book Festival
The Akada Children’s Book Festival (ACBF) is a fun event that highlights children’s books written by African writers or books written by authors from around the world for a diverse audience of children. The festival is to encourage a perfect story time and bonding session between parents and children, as well as assist their cognitive development.
