Dhaka: A large number of visitors thronged the Amar Ekushey Granthamela-2017 as today is the final weekend during the month-long mega event. 

The stall attendants were seen busy dealing with the visitors and big smiles flashed on the face of the publishers as holyday crowd flocked to different stalls and pavilions. 

With the first two hours from 11:00am to 1:00pm dedicated to kids as children's hour, children's presence was remarkable in the morning, while the number of visitors of all ages increased as the children's hours ended.

Different varieties of children books of Ignite Publications Limited are now available at the stall number-553 of the book fair. 

Content coordinator of Ignite Publications Limited Nighat Haq said, "We are getting good response from visitors at the Book Fair. Ignite Publication Limited has developed high standard content to publish good quality book for children at affordable prices."

Ignite Publications are publishing both fiction and non-fiction books alongside fun-filled activity books, pictorial books on a variety of topics, and textbooks and workbooks in English, Mathematics, Bangladesh Studies, Bangla, and a range of other subjects for children, she added.

With the first two hours from 11:00am dedicated to kids as children's hour on every Friday and Saturday during the book fair, children with their parents and elderly people of their families came and had a fun while browsing books, fair sources said. 

They said the organizers of the fair arranged different programmes including essay writings, painting, discussion and cultural function for children on the occasion of children's hour. 

Children mainly thronged different stalls and many of them were seen buying books on fairy tales, ghosts, puzzles, alphabets, cartoons and comic books.

Professor Dr Ratan Siddique said, "The Amar Ekushey Book has now become a festival of all ages of people. This is a great success of the book fair." 

Recalling his memories about the book fair during his early life, he said, "This book fair was held in a limited scale..... Gradually the fair is widening its scale because of huge response of writers, book lovers and publishing houses."

The people of all ages eagerly keep waiting for the fair throughout year to buy new books of their favorite writers, share and exchange on literary works, Dr Ratan added. 

Apart from Bangla Academy premises, around 400,000 square feet area on Suhrawardy Udyan have been earmarked for the fair, Bangla Academy Director General Shamsuzzaman Khan told BSS.

The Suhrawardy Udyan has been decorated with 12 divisions. Some 663 units have been allotted to 409 institutions at the academy and on Suhrawardy Udyan premises. 

Besides, 14 publication houses including Bangla Academy got 15 pavilions covering an area of total 6,000 square feet. Some 100 little magazines have been allocated spaces at the Little Magazine Corner, south side of Burdwan House on the academy premises.