In early November the Communal Festival of the Jewish Book (CFJB) was carried out by Hesed at the regional Kostanay library named after Tolstoy. It actively involved the Junior Programme "Etgar".

In anticipation of this event the leader of the Junior Programme introduced children to the creation of Boris Zakhoder, this year’s celebrant. The author is known for his kind poems, such as "Winnie the Pooh and all, all, all ...", "A Very Polite Turkey", "The Fluffy Alphabet." All his works always bring smiles onto the faces of children and adults alike. The kids listened to the new poems by this author with great interest.

The festival was attended by children from 5 to 13 years of age. Olya Grigorova, Tanya Salasina, Nadia Agafonova, Fedya Gafurov, Seryozha Grigorov, Dasha Zaritskaya and Alisa Skripnik declaimed their chosen favourite poems.

The Junior Programme was helped by the volunteers Natasha Lux and Svetlana Parhomenko. The spectators responded to the performances of the children very optimistically, each verse was accompanied by applause. Children tried very hard and recited the verses expressively, emotionally and amusingly in their own way.

In the end of the concert the director of the Hesed Piotr Rubinshtein thanked the children for their performance. Kids were rewarded with sweet prizes and offered afternoon tea that has been arranged for them.

Olga Salasina