Kids' stuff

Little hands thumb through colourful pages with beautiful visuals of UAE wadis, animals, fish, birds, flora, local dress, even iconic landmarks. Almost every picture represents something they have spotted before.

As they flip each page, they eagerly read or listen to the simple, engaging narratives linked to the visuals.

These children's books are written and illustrated with one backdrop – this country and its people. Take the story of Pierre's Adventure in Arabia by Janice Edgar.

It is about a Canada goose called Pierre who is bored with his usual routine of flying south for the winter. So he heads in a different direction and unexpectedly lands in Dubai and sets out to find what makes Dubai unique.

Pierre's experience in the book, in many ways, is also the story of several authors and illustrators who live or have lived in the UAE. They too discovered unique aspects of the country, and decided to narrate them. Through verse, prose and visuals, they form a multi-layered palimpsest of the UAE for young readers.

Some books vivify the lesser-known aspects of local culture, others highlight prominent ecological topics. Some make anachronistic references to explain modern-day issues; others employ make-believe characters.
Some give anthropomorphic status
to indigenous animals while others illustrate endangered species.

But all these authors and illustrators mine from the same quarry of cultural, sociological and geographical information that defines this country.

Friday speaks to a few of them ...

Ahmad Abdul Ghani Al Redha uses traditional Arab attire to rectify Arab stereotypes.
Al Redha is an Emirati author of The Sifrah Glider, a picture book that aims to correct stereotyped notions about Arabs. He embarks to do so through tales involving traditional attire.

The main character, who shares his name with the book title, uses his headgear or sifrah (a piece of white cloth draped evenly over the head and shoulders) to float in the air. He transports himself to classrooms filled with Western pupils who are curious about Arab attire.

"We often wear a long black robe or bisht as it is called. For those very special occasions,like Eid, graduation and all!" "This white cloth is called a sifrah, the one that you see on my head! We wear it so many times!At work, at play and even when we wed!"

The idea to educate children about Arab culture came about during Al Redha's college years. "I met several nationalities who believed in stereotypes about Arabs prior to living in the Middle East," he says.

It was this impression that emboldened him to write a book. He felt the need to rectify these false identity moulds at a young age.

In the book, The Sifrah Glider, his dynamic personality entertains students in verse and visuals to give them an insight into UAE culture. "[Which is] unlike a school textbook approach," says Al Redha, who adhered to the central theme of traditional attire because he didn't want to encumber young readers with too many cultural factors.

"There are many aspects to UAE culture and the traditional attire is just one. Since children respond to visual lessons with alacrity, I felt teaching them through visuals and verse was the way to go," he says. The Sifrah Glider explains the raison d'être of the attire. "The style and colour of clothes has less to do with fashion and more with culture and practicality.

The white kandourah for men helps them adjust to the desert heat. Take the headdress for instance. It not only protects one's head, but is also used to cover one's
face from gusts of wind. Women's clothes are based on modesty," he says. The Sifrah Glider narrates cultural aspects of how the traditional attire including bisht (dark robe) and asaa (wooden cane) is a symbol of identity and how it helps an Emirati integrate in a multicultural society.

Aniko Brauner uses Sir Bani Yas Island, off the coast of Abu Dhabi, as a setting for friendship. Brauner, German author of Cherry Loving Leila, lived in Dubai from 2005 to 2006 before moving to Moscow.

Her book, Cherry Loving Leila, is about a giraffe who lives on Sir Bani Yas Island and his friendship with the protagonist, his park keeper Rashid. The book features animals and birds that live on the island and deals with themes of friendship, forgiveness, the spice mahlab (powder made of cherry kernels) and cherry trees.

The book was inspired by a bedtime story Brauner would tell her three-year-old son, Max. "At that time I didn't know anything about Sir Bani Yas Island or mahlab," she says.

She told Max, now six, her story of a giraffe with concomitant actions and onomatopoeic sounds. "I would stretch my arm when I told him the giraffe has a 'looooong' neck. I made the noise of spitting stones when the giraffe spat out cherry stones and Max would laugh loudly.

When the park keeper got angry, I changed my voice. When the cherry plants began to grow, I took his hands and stretched them. He loved that part because I almost pulled him out of bed," she says. The story taught Max about nature and human emotions of greed, joy, anger, forgiveness and love and entertained him. "It was the perfect combination for a children's book," she says.

When Brauner moved to the UAE, she collaborated with Una Rawlinson who went on to illustrate Cherry Loving Leila. "We decided to work together. The publishers, Jerboa, liked the idea. It was always my dream to write a children's book. There are many [children's books] with either a good story or great pictures. Seldom do you get both aspects. Cherry Loving Leila makes kids laugh, learn," she says.

The theme is universal in application, but several components of the setting are regional like the names Leila and Rashid and the spice mahlab.

Brauner and Rawlinson's initial research pointed to Sir Bani Yas Island that had 25 giraffes. They visited the place and saw several other species.

"At the time the island wasn't a tourist spot. It only had one hotel and we had to reach [the island] on a fishing boat," says Brauner. Some of the animals and birds illustrated in the book include the Arabian tahr, scimitar horned oryx, llama, ostrich, emu, rhea, houbara, peacock, helmeted guinea fowl and greater flamingo. The landscape too is similar to the island's. "Except the cherry tree," she says, explaining the book provides story-based information and a fact page on giraffes. It also has facts on Sir Bani Yas Island and "Rashid's favourite pastry recipes made of mahlab powder".

Una Rawlinson narrates an adventure featuring marine life of the UAE. Rawlinson is a Dubai-based British author and illustrator. She has lived in the UAE for the past five years.

Fishcakes and Jelly, written and illustrated by her, is a multifarious underwater adventure of a little girl and her family. She came up with the idea for her book when she saw a whale shark trapped in Dubai Marina in 2005.
Prior to this, she hadn't realised the species migrated to the area. "It led me to research whale sharks. I discovered they were often spotted at Jebel Ali, Jumeirah Palm and Dubai Creek. It got me thinking about the UAE's aquatic life," she says.

To illustrate Fishcakes and Jelly, she used several references like Reef Fishes – UAE and Gulf of Oman by Richard F. Field and Whales and Dolphins of Arabia and Marine Life of Arabian Seas both by Robert Baldwin among others. "The Emirates Diving Association sent me a poster of marine species. I also used the internet for research," says Rawlinson, who has also illustrated books for Julia Johnson (The Camel That Got Away) and Aniko Brauner (Cherry Loving Leila).

The book features more than 50 indigenous marine species including the grey reef shark, dugong, humpback whale, bluetail trunkfish and leatherback turtle.

Some of them are classified endangered or threatened. Rawlinson says the process to capture species was enjoyable, yet "a challenge" because she doesn't possess the skills to take underwater photographs and had to rely on external reference material. In addition, the aquaria in Dubai "hadn't opened when I was working on the book".

She believes the level of awareness or exposure to local flora and fauna depends on various factors. "It varies from child to child, school to school. If children have visited natural areas like Sir Bani Yas Island, Arabian Wildlife Centre, Sharjah, or aquaria in Dubai Mall and Atlantis, they would be well-informed," she says.

When Rawlinson visits schools, the children know most indigenous animals prominent in the media like oryx, sand gazelle and leopard, "but not the rarer dugong, caracal or houbara". Her next book, written by Julia Johnson, will illustrate insects, reptiles, birds, mammals and plants found in the mountains of the UAE.

Judi Barrett-Lennard illustrates the culture and people of the UAE. Barrett-Lennard is an Australian illustrator of several books including You're Too Little! by Caroline Borthwick and A Pair of Hoopoes by Denys Johnson-Davies. She has lived in Al Ain for the past 11 years.

In the first book, she illustrated the ancient Arab craft of dhow building through the eyes of a little boy named Ali. In the second, she depicted a young man who spends the only money he has on two hoopoes, and then generously sets them free so that they may enjoy life. "The [second] story is inspired from the Tales of Kalila wa Dimna, one of the great classics of Arabic literature," she says.

She is currently working on the next Ali book based on the environment of mountains and wadis and the function of an oasis. From an illustrator's perspective, she says the Gulf region is full of diversity, culture and themes that are well received by children of all nationalities and are just as rewarding and challenging for her to paint. "I like to place characters into an olden day setting so that the book is educational as well as entertaining. I use illustrations to teach children about the area, country or history in which they live or paintings to pass on classic myths that have a hidden meaning or a story line," she says.

In her studio, she has a large collection of photos and articles collected over the past 10 years. She also had access to the library at the Al Ain Women's Higher College. "It [the college] has a wonderful collection of pictorial history books which helped me paint the correct environment settings like old villages, dress, tools, etc, set over 100 years ago. I also accessed etchings and paintings of the Tales of Kalila wa Dimna to create similar settings for A Pair of Hoopoes with my own style and touches added," she says.

In the initial stages of the project, she adumbrates a storyboard that lays out the text with the appropriate illustration. She also brainstorms the storyboard with the author and/or the publisher before sketching out the full collection of illustrations and then finishing the painting process. "Sometimes I re-do pieces that are in the wrong colour or aren't suited to the correct era of the story as it was the case in A Pair of Hoopoes."

Janice Edgar bridges Western and Middle Eastern cultures.
Edgar, Canadian author of Pierre's Adventure in Arabia, lived in Dubai from 1999 to 2006. She currently lives in Canada and visits Dubai every year.

The leitmotif of her story is bridging cultures. She does so with the help of Pierre, a Canada goose, who is bored with his usual routine of flying south for the winter. Looking for a new adventure, he heads in a different direction and unexpectedly lands in Dubai, a city in Arabia. With the help of Faarasha Farhana, an indigenous painted lady butterfly, he sets out to find what makes Dubai unique.

"The joy of adventure Pierre experiences is very much a reflection of the enthusiasm and positive energy that invigorated me when I arrived [in the UAE]. The cultural similarities and differences Pierre discovers reflect what I learnt when I lived and worked in Dubai," she says.

In the book, illustrated by Donna Acheson-Juillet, Pierre finds Dubai has many unique qualities from the locals who wear traditional attire to open desert spaces and modern fixtures. He discovers the region has warm, friendly people who are willing to share their experiences and show him around their community just as he would have when a foreigner visited his country.

"Pierre discovers that, just as the red and white hockey jersey he wears reflects his pride in being a Canadian and promoting its sporting tradition, Emiratis too have a strong sense of national pride in who they are and their local customs," says Edgar.

Thus Farhana exhibits pride in her heritage as she eagerly shares fresh dates and coffee flavoured with cardamom, which they drink from a traditional 'dalla' and pour into small cups. She introduces Pierre to duning, wadi bashing and abras. And shows him icons including the Burj Al Arab and the gold souk in Deira. The book project – initiated in November 2001 and published in November 2005 – was a form of acculturation for Edgar who experienced the UAE's culture firsthand. "Much of the content was derived from what I discovered and experienced as an expat debutante in the region," she says.

She believes young minds are more flexible and their attitudes can be more easily shaped and influenced than those of adults. "We need to find ways to inspire youngsters to explore, accept and appreciate cultural differences.

Through creative projects like Pierre's Adventure in Arabia [available in English, French and Arabic] we can promote the idea that cultural differences ought to be embraced, not feared," she says.

– Carolina D'Souza is Lifestyle Features Coordinator, Friday