Cultural presentations, book sales, oral storytelling, children's theater and poetry are the activities scheduled for the fifth version of the FESTILIJ (Children's and Youth Literature Festival) organized by the Ministry of Culture (MiCultura) and to be held free of charge at the City of The Arts, on Tuesday April 2 from 10: 00 a.m..

The aim of this event is to celebrate the World Day of Children's Literature that is April 2, 1967, under the initiative of the International Organization for the Youth Book (IBBY) with the occasion of the nataletio of the Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen, one of the most famous storyteller of international literature that has caught us with his characters as his ptigarcito, the Sirenite, The Queen of the Nieves and The ugly ducks, among others.

The fifth Panama Children's and Youth Literature Festival (Festiji) will have a dynamic to allow an encounter with the imaginary of children's literature and the arts, promoting family and community reading and promoting more about national and universal children's literature.

The Festiji has partners such as the Ministry of Education (Meduca), the Municipality of Panama (Mupa), the National Library, the Panamanian Association of Reading, the Panamanian Academy of Children and Youth Literature, the Panamanian Book Chamber, the Carlos Francisco Changmarín Foundation and a select team of readers and child literature writers.

According to Carlos Fong, reader of MiCultura and coordinator of Festiji this is "a perfect opportunity to promote in our children and young people one of the most beneficial habits that a person can acquire, that's reading."

"We call for families to participate, because we also have a parade of posters and posters where we invite them to express themselves with phrases or drawings, referring to children's and youth literature," Fong stated.

The fifth edition will pay tribute to the writer Telsy Sánchez, who passed away last February, leaving a number of works, especially dedicated to children.