Shopping during the DSF should be a fun-filled family affair, but if members of your party are unenthusiastic about retail therapy or the crowds, there are plenty of alternatives to keep everyone happy.
A great pick would be to head to Dubai’s huge selection of bookish venues. After all, reading is still considered the best way to reduce stress levels, according to a study carried out by Mindlab International at the University of Sussex in the UK.
Libraries are dotted about the city and are accessible from the shops as well. At the Mall of the Emirates is The Old Library, a non-profit English language library offering about 21,000 books. The library has been going, albeit in other venues of the city, since the days when the UAE consisted of Trucial States.
Every Sunday morning from 10.30am until 11.15am there’s a storytelling session for pre-school children. Visit www.theoldlibrary.ae
Smell of fiction
Although libraries are dwindling in popularity due to e-books, among other reasons, nothing can replace the cherished smell and feel of a well-worn book, so much so that a supposed electronics company from Eastern Europe created a new-book-smell spray for users of e-reading devices to evoke memories of their favourite bookstore.
“How sad is that?” says Radha Janardhan, owner of Read N Enjoy bookstore in Jumeirah Beach Residence, an advocate for the written word.
Children come to Read N Enjoy to read on site, buy books or take up membership. Her youngest member is five months old. “Even the very young can appreciate books,” she says. “Babies find simply listening to your reading voice soothing or entertaining.” And it’s educational too, of course. “One of my most loyal members is three years old — he can recite all the names of the different types of dinosaurs.”
The bookshop offers storytelling sessions on Thursday afternoons from 4pm, for which she is seeking volunteers. Call 055 990 4571.
Storyteller Veena Gandhi has spun yarns here and in many venues in Dubai. Her stories are geared for children aged three to five years old, complete with a supporting cast of hand puppets.
“When I came over from India in 2011 I was surprised to see that many kids here don’t read,” she says, and uses props to encourage interaction among the children.
“Nothing — not even a storybook application such as Alice for the iPad – can replace human social interaction.”
Next month she will be reading at The Archive, a library and art cafe in Safa Park. Shelves here are filled with books that “focus on the arts and culture of the Mena region, and are not for borrowing or buying, but are a resource to read on site,” says Beth Hopper, Programme Coordinator at The Archive. Call 04 349 4033.
Wizard bakery
Like a scene from the Flourish and Blotts bookshop of a Harry Potter movie, a wall of old leather-bound books draws customers into Le Pain Quotidien at the Marina Mall. Part of a Belgian chain, this outlet simply oozes home-comfort appeal, complete with a few squashy leather chairs where customers familiar with French, Flemish, Belgian or English can browse through the books while they wait.
At the House of Prose second-hand bookshop in the Dubai Garden Centre, you can buy books and read it at the adjacent Rose Leaf Café. The bookshop buys these back at half price. Another branch, Book ‘N’ Bean, inside Ace Hardware at Dubai Festival City, offers a cosy coffee shop with chairs and tables to sit at while browsing.
The kids play area of The Change Initiative in Al Barsha on Shaikh Zayed Road is offering songs and storytelling for children from four months to four years on Tuesday, from 10.15am to 11am, and there are more events in February. There’s also a reading zone for children in The Taste Initiative. Call 04 376 9213.
So pick up that book and have a relaxed DSF.
