He said the exhibition continues to enjoy increased popularity from all types of visitors whether they are Saudi, expatriate or from outside the Kingdom. The exhibition started last Tuesday and will conclude tomorrow.

There were plenty of children at the fair, especially at the Swedish stand that took care of the young visitors by entertaining them with stories and games.

The first few days of the fair attracted huge crowds, especially from schools. The exhibition caters to children by offering all kinds of books, educational and cultural.

In addition to the activities including drawing and coloring events, there was a mascot that looked like a sheep that greeted children and told stories to them. The character is featured in a story called “Pistachio Birth”, written by Dalal Hamoud bint Hamoud bin Nader.

Educational supervisor Mohammed Abdul Karim praised the fair’s management for catering to children, adding many books that aimed to inspired creativity and art in kids were found at the exhibition.

Abdul Karim urged Saudi families to take their children to the exhibition and to buy books and publications that would help develop their knowledge.

The National Society for Human Rights distributed a number of pamphlets and brochures to inform visitors and children of their rights.

The pocket sized booklets covered the UN convention on children’s rights, the rights of prisoners, the rights of the accused and the rights of the disabled, among others.

French Ambassador to the Kingdom Bertrand Besancenot said: “The Riyadh International Book Fair every year is becoming better and better. This is characterized this year by the larger turnout of visitors compared to last year as well as the large number of participants from publishing houses and various new publications in various fields of knowledge.”