At the opening of the Filij, Taibo II invited people to read freely and critically

When inaugurating the 42nd International Children’s and Youth Book Fair (Filij) yesterday, the director of the Economic Culture Fund (FCE), Paco Ignacio Taibo II, claimed the importance of the informal education that reading provides, since, he said, it is the that builds ideas and a critical sense of life more deeply.

You have to read freely, with critical ability; read the different, the disturbing, the mysterious, the book that they tell you not to read, because it is the one that will set you freesaid the writer, addressing the hundreds of children and adolescents gathered at the event.

He said that throughout his management at the head of the conglomerate formed by the FCE, the General Directorate of Publications and Educational, which he undertook since the previous six-year term, he has attempted to build a massive space to promote reading in the Valley of Mexico and the rest of the country.

He reported that by the end of the year there will be 20,000 reading clubs in the national territory, in addition to which, he assured, significant progress has been recorded in the FCE bookbus tours in the capital of the Republic and various parts of the country, such as Baja California, Sonora, central Veracruz, carrying and bringing books.

In a self-critical tone, he acknowledged that No matter how many battles we have fought, the book is still expensivealthough he recalled that the FCE has managed to lower the prices of several of its titles, with several of up to 15 pesos.

With his usual casualness, Taibo II maintained that It is about building the critical spirit since childhood: I am one of those who think that children do not have to be stupid, it is not an obligation.

He considered himself among those who think that Where there is a child there is a rebel, and what must be cultivated is rebellion, the right to think with one’s own head, from the age of five to 50, and at 70 it is mandatory. We have come to the world to change it, not to suffer it, and reading is one of the great factors of change in a society.

Sun and bustle in the forest

The 42 Filij started in the middle of the sunny midday and the hubbub of hundreds of children and adolescents from various primary and secondary schools in Mexico City, who in groups led by their teachers attended the first section of the Bosque de Chapultepec, headquarters for the third consecutive year of that editorial and cultural meeting.

The ceremony was devoid of solemn protocols. It was an event by children for children, since the welcome and invitations to read were given by members of children’s and youth reading clubs in the country, who talked about their favorite books.

There were also several officials from the federal and local governments, who also mentioned those books they enjoyed as children. Among the first were the writer Nadia López García, national coordinator of Literature of the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature, and the undersecretary of Basic Education of the Ministry of Public Education, Angélica Juárez Pérez.

Among the locals, meanwhile, the Secretary of the Environment of Mexico City, Julia Álvarez Icaza, endorsed the support of the capital government to the deputies of the local Congress who oppose the judicial resolution that requires them to grant nearly 5 thousand meters squares of Chapultepec Forest for real estate development.

The 42 Filij will remain until November 18 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., with the participation of 74 publishing labels and a program that includes 90 presentations, more than 130 artistic activities and workshops.

At the same time, it will have a presence in 10 other entities, with different sub-headquarters in Campeche, Baja California Sur, Guerrero, Puebla, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Tlaxcala, Sonora, Nuevo León and Veracruz, in addition to rooms and reading clubs. The schedule can be consulted at: https://filij.fondodeculturaeconomica.com/Actividades/Chapultepec.