Sharjah: UAE children are starting to read more, be it traditional books or digital content, thanks to various campaigns to encourage the habit, experts said during the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF) on Wednesday.
Based on surveys and feedback from the campaigns, results indicate young children are now more interested in reading, participants pointed out during the first day of SCRF, taking place till April 30 at Expo Centre.
SCRF was opened on Wednesday by Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Sharjah, who toured the event on Wednesday morning. Shaikha Budoor Bint Sultan Al Qasimi, founder and CEO of Kalimat Group, and senior officials and dignitaries were also present.
During the inauguration, Shaikh Sultan honoured the winners of the Sharjah Exhibition for Children’s Books Illustrations, the SCRF 2016 Awards and Sharjah Award for Library Literature.
Badria Abdullah Al Ali, manager of Lughati, an initiative to encourage the use of Arabic through smart learning tools in Sharjah government schools, said technology can be an enabler of reading.
She explained that smart devices and digital multimedia content, which are seen as “competition” regarding books, can actually make children take to reading. Lughati is distributing thousands of tablets loaded with Arabic interactive educational content in public schools.
“Our survey of kindergarten children covered by Lughati indicates this. Teachers said the children couldn’t wait for the Arabic class and were more focused in classwork. Their alphabet skills and Arabic accent also improved,” Al Ali added.
Meanwhile, awards and incentives for publishers, writers and illustrators of children’s books have also led to an increase in both the quality and quantity of children’s books.
“Better children’s books mean better interest from children, leading to more reading,” said Marwa Al Aqroubi, president of the UAE Board on Books for Young People (UAEBBY).
“For example, before we started our ‘Books – Made in UAE’ initiative for Emirati writers and illustrators, you could hardly find ‘full-time’ professionals in the field of children’s literature. Over the five editions of the workshops — which aim to produce an Arabic children’s book after each workshop — we’ve had at least 70 participants… There are anywhere from 70 to 100 new, quality Arabic children’s books per year now,” Al Aqroubi added.
The latest edition of SCRF coincides with the 2016 Year of Reading initiative that is witnessing the UAE public and private sector launching dozens of programmes to encourage reading.
Taking place over 11 days, SCRF 2016 is hosting hundreds of cultural, educational, arts and entertainment events and features participation of 130 publishers from 15 countries.
In the limelight
Sharjah Exhibition for Children’s Books Illustrations Awards
First place: Hassan Zahreddine (Lebanon)
Second place: Alexandra Sternin (US) and the
Third place: Sonja Danowski (Germany)
SCRF 2016 Awards
Arabic Children’s Book Award: Saudi author Arwa Khamis for Ana Roomi
Arabic Young Adult Book Award: Tunisian writer Nasr Sami for Tales of Jaber the Shepherd
International Children’s Book Award: Pakistani author Tahira Arshad for The Black Stone.
Best Book for Visually Impaired Children: Tunisian author Laila Al Daloul for Life is all for us.
Sharjah Award for Library Literature
First place: Tharwat Elelamy Al Mursi
Second place: Ali Fat’hi Abdul Rahim EA Sherif
Third place: Ahmad Hafez Ahmad
(all winners Egyptian)
