Notre Dame Academy students flip through books at one of the stalls in the fair on the institution premises in Patna on Wednesday. The fair did not disappoint the young bookworms. The juniors picked up books on Tom and Jerry, Barbie and the likes of Cinderella, while their seniors chose books on how to be popular. Some of the books also favoured by students of Class IX were those chronicling the lives of their favourite teen stars. One such was Mega Movie Stars (at Scholastic), filled with facts and interviews about the Taylor Lautners and Emma Watsons from the Twilight, Harry Potter or Percy Jackson films. Indian love stories also reached out to the bookworms. The recently released The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part I also seemed to trigger the interest of the students as one salesman at India Book Centre said he was getting several customers looking for the books in the Twilight series. Earlier on Wednesday, Notre Dame Academy principal Sister Mary Tessy inaugurated the book fair in the presence of the members of the Parents and Teachers Association. The fair will conclude on Friday. Picture by Ashok Sinha

Patna, Dec. 14: Wizards, vampires, fairy godmothers and young stars have arrived in the state capital for a date with their young fans. The venue: Notre Dame Academy; the occasion: a book fair.

The institution’s Parents and Teachers Association has organised a three-day children’s book fair for the students on the school premises. About 10,000 books have taken up shelves at the fair, giving the young bookworms a free run.

Horror, thriller, adventure and love stories are a hit, as are biographies and books on Hollywood celebrities and fairy tales.

A fan of ghost stories, 10-year-old Nancy plans to buy at least one horror book from the fair. However, from the range of choices available at Scholastic, Gyan Ganga, India Book Centre and Books en-Ami stalls, the Class V student is facing a hard time selecting. Another hurdle is convincing her mother of her choices.

“I love horror stories as the suspense keeps on rising. I do get scared after reading a horror story at night but I still love to read them,” said Nancy as she browsed through books at the Scholastic stall.

She added: “I want to buy Dead Beautiful by Yvonne Woon. But I know my mother would not allow me to buy only these books. I have also noted down the names of a few and would consult my mother back home and return later.”

Nancy is not alone. Other junior students of the school have also decided to go back home to speak to their parents over their choices.

Class II student Apoorva has stayed away from books, which can give her sleepless nights and instead settled on books that would make her laugh. Books on Barbie top her 17-book-strong list followed by fairy tales.

“I have noted down the names of 17 books I liked at the fair. I want to buy all of them and would try hard to convince my parents,” said the eight-year-old.

The senior students kept an eye on guides to popularity that can make them stand out among peers.

Famous for her Princess Diaries series, Meg Cabot’s How to be Popular has been a hit with such students. Class VIII student Mithi Akansha said: “Who does not want to be popular? I think every teenager wants to be popular among their peers. I thought that after reading this book I could use some of the tricks to raise my popularity quotient.”

Kimberly Kirberger’s No Body’s Perfect, a book about body image and self-acceptance, was another hit among the seniors. “People our age need to look good and presentable. I think this book would help me gain these qualities,” said Class VIII student Ananya Bharadwaj, who was waiting to buy the book at Scholastic.

Indian love stories also reached out to fans like Class IX student Soumya, who said: “I really like to read love stories and I got one too — Of course I love you.”