Children’s book author and secretary of the Association of Writers and Illustrators for Children (AWIC), Ira Saxena, said it’s high time the rich Indian folk and mythological stories are introduced to a wider audience. “For example, tales from Panchtantra, dating back to 2000 BC, have a fascinating number of animal stories that are universally appealing,” she added.

Russia, being the guest of honour at this year’s book fair, is a good place to start this cross-cultural flow of books. Earlier, books from Russia flooded the Indian market, but Indian children’s books are still a rare sight in foreign bookshops. So, during an Indo-Russian seminar at the fair, publishers will discuss ways in which to introduce these books in Russia, and also vice versa.

“Poor marketing and limited translation are the major barriers faced by our children’s books for reaching a global audience,” said Saxena. However, when she visited Moscow last year, Saxena discovered some Indian authors — Tagore and Premchand — are well known and appreciated. This has motivated AWIC to host a deeper dialogue between the two nations. “Transfer of books across countries is an opportunity to learn more about different cultures,” said Saxena, adding, “this is especially important among the younger generation.”

Eduard Nikolaevich Uspensky, arguably Russia’s most popular children’s writer, will be attending the fair, among a host of other contemporary Russian writers. A collection of poems for children, The Funny Baby Elephant, and the novel, Crocodile Gena and his friends, are just two of Uspensky’s books to be showcased during the fair.

Indian children’s books to be featured at the fair include Once upon a time in India, and among the more contemporary storybooks, I am Sona, about a girl infected by the HIV virus.

The National Book Trust (NBT), India, which organises the fair biennially, is expecting its largest rush ever this year. Last year the fair hosted 2000 stalls, for 1300 exhibitors from 17 countries; this year’s fair will see 23 countries participating.