Sharjah: Organisers of the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) have called upon illustrators of children’s books around the world to participate in the third edition of the Sharjah Exhibition for Children Book’s Illustrations.

The exhibition, which will be held on the sidelines of the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival from April 15 to 25 at the Expo Centre in Sharjah, will give away a total of $21,000 (Dh77,131) in cash prizes to winners.

“Sharjah has always been the pioneer in cultural events, mixing books with art, words with imagery, and poetry with music, thus participating in the creation of an art scene that caters to all social segments,” Ahmad Bin Rakkad Al Ameri, SIBF director, said.

“Naturally, children occupy a high position on our priority list as we strive to enhance a culture revolving around children, with highly professional content that focuses on virtue and human values,” he added.

Interested applicants need to submit a minimum of three and a maximum of six of their original works together with their participation form to SIBF before February 15, 2014. The illustrations should be equal to or less than 50 centimetres.

Criteria

Each illustration should tackle an issue about human values to help in the production of high standard children’s books, both in terms of content and illustration, Hind Lenaid, head of exhibitions at SIBF and general co-ordinator of the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival, said.

Lenaid said a special jury will adjudge the artwork, with the first prize to be awarded $8,000, the second prize with $6,000, and the third prize with $4,000. Organisers will also give three incentive awards, each worth $1,000.

The fair’s first edition saw the participation of 61 artists from 26 countries around the world. It awarded the first prize to Gabriel Pacheco from Mexico.

The third edition of Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival is set to be held in April next year, where participation is expected from hundreds of local, Arabic and international publishers specialised in children’s books and educational and cultural content.

Aside from exhibitions, the Sharjah Exhibition for Children Books’ Illustrations also creates a database of all participating artists for future use. This provides a platform for artists to promote their artwork worldwide and connect with other artists, authors, publishers, children and their guardians.

For more information and to download the participation form, visit www.sharjahbookfair.com.