Children engage with literature at John Mac Summer Storytelling session

By Neve Clinton

The Summer Storytelling tour Tuesday held its final session at the John Mackintosh Hall Library, which saw a dozen eager three to seven year-olds in attendance.

The event was organised by Gibraltar Cultural Services (GCS), forming part of the GSLA summer programme’s culturally enriching activities for youngsters, and stories were read by primary school teacher and children’s book author Karim Vatvani.

Mr Vatvani has a passion for literature and storytelling, and hopes to imbue the younger generation with this same love for reading.

“I think it’s a bit of a lost art at the moment, especially with so many children on iPads and everything, they’re losing their touch with literature and an actual physical book and sitting down and reading it, so we’re trying to get them to see that it’s quite interesting and fun,” Mr Vatvani said.

The children were thoroughly engaged throughout and managed to get through an array of storybooks, including classics by Julia Donaldson like The Gruffalo, Stick Man and Tiddler, and her newer book ‘Superworm’, as well as Judith Kerr’s classic The Tiger Who Came to Tea.

They also explored Tom Fletcher’s 2025 interactive story There’s a Bunny in Your Book, which follows a hungry easter bunny looking for her snack, with a moral message about the importance of sharing.

GCS ensured that the little ones were comfortable and happy in a colourful and cultural environment, with their bean bags set up in the library’s children’s area, surrounded by cuddly toys and of course, lots of books.

At the end of the session, they were encouraged by Mr Vatvani to borrow any books which caught their eye.

Also in attendance were GBC’s Summer Camp Mini Media Crew, who were practising camera techniques, filming and interviewing under the guidance of Lizanne Figueras and Justine Cartwright.

Chloe Mascarenhas and Kayla Knights, both 10 years old, told the Chronicle that they have been learning how everything works behind the scenes at GBC, have suggested their own ‘breaking news’ stories to the team, and were proud to announce that on Friday, they will be featured in this week’s episode of The Powder Room.