With International Children's Day around the corner, more than 100 publishers will present their best books for children at the first China Children Book Expo.

With activities such as storytelling, picture drawing and children's art workshops, the five-day event is part of the 5th Beijing Reading Season which started in April to promote reading among Chinese.

There are six pavilions in the exhibition, each with a different theme like science, cartoons and animation, Chinese culture and children's literature. The exhibition is at the China Children Center in the Guanyuan area.

The exhibition has partnered with 798 International Children Art Festival, to hold art workshops for children. According to Harriet Petty, the liaison coordinator of the 798 Art Zone, painters and illustrators from the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia and Italy will come to draw with children during the exhibition.

"There is research showing that if a child hasn't experienced the joy of reading before the age of 8, then he will find it difficult to enjoy the beauty of books and cultivate the habit of reading later in life," says Wang Yijun, director of the public service department of Beijing municipal bureau of press, publication, radio, film and television.

"We hope the exhibition will bring interesting and helpful books from the world to Chinese children, and great books will accompany them through their childhood."

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