All Set for the 35th Manila International Book Fair (#MIBF2014)

Today is the first day of the much-awaited yearly Manila International Book Fair. This is an event book lovers look forward to each year. Big discounts on books and other educational materials and toys, meet and greet activities with authors and illustrators, storytelling sessions, book launches, book signings, workshops, raffle prizes and giveaways are some of the things that people like me look forward to each year.

 

 

I checked out the booths that I will prioritize to visit to save on energy and time. The event is usually held at the SMX and it's quite tiring to go around, booth to booth, given its massive size. I usually go to back to the fair after my first visit because I get tired navigating the maze of booths that sell books and various products. I also like taking my time when I check out the books and products sold so one day is not enough for me.

 

So far, here are the booths that I plan to visit first. Our first target destination is the Adarna House booth. I've been searching for a copy of the book Hating Kapatid since August but it was out of stock in the National Bookstore branches that we went to. Thus, I was happy to find out that this award-winning book will be available and will be on sale as part of a bundle at the 35th Manila International Book Fair. I was also happy to discover that the other award-winning books in the bundle are books that my kids would be interested to read. 

 

Another bundle that I'm excited to purchase is the Science bundle. These are topics that my eldest son has been asking in the past weeks since we started our lessons on the planet and weather. I'm sure that we would enjoy reading these books. These books are recommended for Grades 4-6 students but I think my son is ready for them.



I'm excited to have our new books signed by the authors
and to have pictures taken with them with my kids.

 

One of the next books
in the Jepoy Dyip Series.

The next booth that I want to check out is the Lampara Publishing House booth. We recently bought a copy of the book Si Jepoy Dyip and my kids are interested to get a copy of the next books in the series. (You may read about our reading experience with this book here.) I was very happy to discover that the author and illustrator of this said book will be conducting a Children's Storytelling and Art Workshop on Saturday. I'd like to grab this chance to ask him to sign our copy and have a photo taken with my boys. I want to attend his workshop, too. The great thing about it is that we simply need to buy a copy of one of his books and we can attend the workshop for free. Aside from buying a copy of the next books in the series, I also plan to get another copy of Si Jepoy Dyip so I can give it away as a Christmas gift. I think it would be a nice gift for a little boy because the book comes with a toy.

 

 

 

 

The other workshop that I discovered and that I'm excited to attend on Saturday is the Children's Story Book Writing Workshop. The workshop will be conducted by the author of the book My Daddy! My One and Only! Just like in the other workshop, we simply need to buy a copy of the author's book to attend the workshop for free. Since we don't have a copy of that book yet, I will buy a copy for the boys. Thus, I can attend the workshop for free as well.

 

Another booth I want to visit is the OMF booth. I have bought plenty of Christian books from OMF since I was single. So, I was delighted to read this article that enumerated the 13 reasons why I should check out their booth this year at the book fair. I'm excited to buy copies of the new books in their Wow, God! Series plus the another new book titled Bee Green. Aside from the wonderful stories in these new titles and the 30% discount on their launch price, I'm excited because every purchase of a newly-launched book from OMF entitles the customer to get a FREE EBOOK! Isn't that a great deal?

 

The other booths that I plan to visit are the following: Fully Booked (to check out if the various versions of The Very Hungry Caterpillar would be on sale), Heartshaper/Lighthouse (to say hi to the owner who is also a friend and to check what materials they have on sale), Scholastic (to see what Clifford and Spot books are on sale) and Filway Marketing. Moreover, I hope to find educational toys that are on sale that we can use in our homeschool.

 

I also checked the line up of activities again for the next four days and took note of the ones that I plan to attend. To get the detailed schedule of events and to see the list of exhibitors who will participate in this event, check out Manila International Book Fair's website or Facebook Page.

 

As for me, here are some of the activities I have noted in my planner:

 

DAY 3 - Friday, September 19, 2014

10:00 A.M. – 12:00 NN / Stage Area
Storytelling Session with Vibal Group – LG& M Chikiting Books, Vibal Publishing House, Inc.
 

1:00 P.M. – 2:00 P.M. / OMF Booth Storytelling and Book Signing Session for Wow, God! Flaming Furnace, Fiery Faith, OMF Literature 

 

2:00 P.M. – 5:00 P.M. / Stage Area
Lampara Kids Event: Magbasa, Makisaya, Maging Batang Lampara, Precious Pages Corp.
 

On top of these, I plan to drop by the SVP and the CSM booths to say hi to my author friends who are launching their books at the fair and who will be signing books. There are also big discounts from these two publishers so make sure you check out their booths too. I will definitely check out Vibal's both as well to check books that are on sale. Two year's ago, we bought a copy of The Rain is Here from their booth. (Read my review of this book here.)

 

The entrance fee for the event is P20.00 for adults and P15.00 for students, teachers and senior citizens (ID should be presented though); but you can get free tickets through the various exhibitors. I just printed our tickets which I got from the Adarna House blog. You can also print the tickets from other exhibitors like OMF, Tahanan Books, Paulines and Jesuit Communications. Or if you are near a Fully Booked branch, you can get free tickets there.

 

So, when do you plan to head to SMX to go to this event? What books do you plan to buy at the MIBF?