An International Festival of Children's Literature was recently held at St James Cavalier Creativity Centre. Among the items featured was Ġabra ta' Ward, a special event dedicated to nostalgic childhood memories.

I, for one, who had been educated on Ġabra ta' Ward at Mosta primary school, was very much looking forward to reminisce about the central figure of Ġaħan and his antics.

I was very disappointed that most of E.B. Vella's learned works were mentioned but no reference to our all-time culture hero, Ġaħan.

Ġaħan forms a very important part of our very small culture and cannot be put aside, for any reason.

Stories and folktales are still very much alive and included in storytelling sessions in most European schools. In fact, our Ġaħan has landed in Europe.

Danish composers are saluting Hans Christian Andersen's 200th birthday with works inspired by his tales. Per Norgard chose The Will o' the Wisps Are In Town set for orchestra , choirs and narrator, and the world premiere was held at the Birmingham Symphony Hall in 2005.