Children’s book festival “Living letters”: hares, let’s rise! | Culture

Since organizing the festival in 2022, the organizers have noticed that interest is growing every year. Last year, the traditional children’s procession received exceptional attention from kindergartens and schools in Kaunas. At that time, around 200 characters from different fairy tales and cartoons marched along the main street of the old town of Kaunas towards the garden of the Maironis Museum of Lithuanian Literature. Other activities organized in the museum, stars of modern children’s literature, were also attractive to families: writers Tomas Dirgėla, Kotryna Zylė and designer Inga Dagilė. This year, no less adventures and meetings await the children. We will be waiting for the arrival of Sonata Latvėnaitė-Kričeniė, Indrė Šeputienė, Ignė Zarambaitė, Jūra Smiltė, Gintarė Laurikėniė and Virgis Šidlauskas.

Children’s literature is more than letters on paper

The organizers of the festival are convinced that children’s literature is a way to talk with children about serious, relevant and socially sensitive topics. Among other things, literature helps children learn about world musical and literary classics. This year, “Muzikija” will invite 1st-4th grade students on a musical experiential tour of the book “The Maestro (does) not let you play”. The authors of this book are Sonata Latvėnaitė-Kričenėne, the founder of the “Strazdanėlė” kindergarten, and the head of the “Muzikija” publishing house, Indrė Šeputienė. Enthusiasts of R. Emilia’s educational philosophy are convinced that children know a hundred languages, they can discover play or language in different aspects, unfortunately, the classical education system leaves them only the oral way. The women who brought back invaluable experience from Italy seek to popularize the approach to a child who can communicate in a hundred languages ​​in Lithuania. Based on this method, children’s curiosity and creativity will be stimulated.

The main idea of ​​the “Living Letters” festival for children is to involve the young audience and their parents in the cultural event, create long-lasting memories and encourage children to think about literature as a journey through different worlds, getting to know heroes who become companions at different stages of life.

The writer Ignė Zarambaitė will come to the festival with Enrik, the character of the book “Magic grandfather’s shoes”. A boy who, like all other children in the world, lives an everyday life: he reluctantly shares a room with his sister, likes to run frantically in the corridors during breaks between classes, adores ice cream and is sad when faced with injustice. In an interview, the writer shared that books enchanted her since she was a child, and when she closed the last page of the book she was reading, tears rolled down her face. Books raise children from the inside, and in the face of failures and misfortunes, the characters of the stories they meet stand behind them and encourage them to move forward.

Jūra Smiltė, illustrator Gintarė Laurikėnienė will also invite you to get to know a new world and make friends with other characters. Ignė Zarambaitė’s Enrika’s company will be complemented by Sofia with a plush toy hippopotamus Brigita, who will come from the book “Adventures of Brigita Begemotaitė and her friends” by Evelina Gužauskytė, a writer who used the pseudonym Jūras Smiltė. According to the author of the book, fairy tales and poems introduce children to different values, they learn to distinguish good from evil. Books help develop not only a sense of humor, but also resilience. During the meeting with Jūra Smilte and G. Laurikėniene, the author who was born and raised in Lithuania, but spent the last 30 years in the USA, young readers will listen to the stories of the book, and then they will free their imagination and create books themselves. This meeting is extremely useful for future second-grade students, because the work “The Adventures of Brigita Begemotaitė and her Friends” (Homo Liber publishing house, 2023) is included in the list of recommended books compiled by Kęstutis Urba for 2nd grade. for schoolchildren.

This year’s festival will also feature musical sounds. On the opening day of the festival, chants from Kazis Binkis’s poem “Hare Uprising” will be heard with a bang. Later, the musical tone will be continued by an audio-experiential tour of the book “Maestro (does not) let me play”, and the last thunderous notes will be played by the writer Virgis Šidlauskas with the program “Character rock and roll”. According to the author, a rare child can patiently wait until the middle of a book if the action moves slower than a snail. However, there is no need to worry about the snail’s pace, because in the performance of V. Šidlauskas, the children will become part of the orchestra! Both young and old will be invited to perform works by beating the rhythm, playing and dancing to their heart’s desire. It will be really cool, you can participate too!

Festival program

May 10

10 o’clock the “Live Letters” festival will begin with a procession of hares from the book “Rabbit Rebellion” by writer K. Binkis with actor Remigius Endriukaitis. The end of the procession – the Maironis Museum of Lithuanian Literature (Rotušės a. 13, Kaunas) in the garden, where fun and gifts will await the little bunnies.

at 5 p.m. – a musical experiential journey with Sonata Latvėnaite-Kričeniene and Indre Šeputiene. The children will get to know Charles Camille Saint-Saëns, the interesting things of his life and the wonderful music of “Carnival of the Beasts”. Recommended age of participants: 1-4th grade. Duration – 1 hour.

May 11

12 o’clock – meeting with the authors of the book “Adventures of Brigita Begemotaitė and her friends”, storytelling and book workshops. Recommended age of participants: 5-10 years. Duration – 1 hour.

at 2 p.m. – a meeting with Igne Zarambaite, who will lead the literary-educational session “What books and dolls are talking about”. The character of the book, Enrika, will also come along with it – a handmade theater puppet. Children will be able to create a cardboard-textile character themselves. Recommended age of participants: 1-4th grade. Duration – 1 hour.

4 p.m. – writer Virgis Šidlauskas with the program “Character rock and roll”. We will invite all children to become part of the orchestra! We will gather the book characters in a music group and spice it up with fun drawings and fun songs. Recommended age of participants: 5-10 years. Duration – 1 hour.

All the activities of the festival are free of charge, so we invite you to go to the Maironis Museum of Lithuanian Literature for a literary weekend full of experiences, laughter and creativity!

Photographs and video will be taken during the event.

The festival is supported by Kaunas city municipality, initiatives for Kaunas.

Partners: Kaunas Literature Week.

Sponsors: charity and support fund “Educate children”, publishing house “Žalias kalnas”, association “Slinktys”, film center “Forum Cinemas”, homestead “Gyvas kalnas”, innovative education platform VšĮ “Edulands”, virtual reality entertainment arena “PartyTime”, art therapy and socialization institute “Vyta”, DJ studio “Atik Esup”, game room “Monkey”, children’s game room “Jungles”.