One of the greatest personal discoveries we can all make is not by stepping foot on a new land or identifying a new species of wildlife, it is our first journey into the never-ending landscape of literature. The youngest of crawlers will find a fascination in the pictures of a book and the big, bold text that tells them whether they are looking at an apple, a ball or a cat. What a wonderful beginning to a very special relationship that will become stronger and blossom from page to page, chapter to chapter and book to book.
Whether we are parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts or even bigger brothers and sisters, we should enjoy nurturing that bond in our children. And as they grow, we can almost measure the age of young readers by the books they love and the way they love them.
Reading to our children not only reveals a plot, it fosters a sense of safety, security and familiarity. Mum or dad at edge of the bed, setting the scenes and taking on the voices of the heroes and villains becomes the staple diet of a happy and unbreakable nightly routine.
At this year’s Emirates Airline Festival of Literature — just a few weeks away — we have some of the most successful and best-loved children’s authors that have turned occasional readers into addicts. Lit Fest favourite Francesca Simon, creator of Horrid Henry, whose books and CDs have sold more than 20 million copies in the United Kingdom alone, is now writing in proportion to her (slightly) ageing audience. The Sleeping Army and The Lost Gods appeal to an older audience and her first novel for teens, The Monstrous Child, leaves Horrid Henry looking positively tepid.
It is around those early teen years that the book bug either bites or jumps. I have heard so many times that parents cannot persuade their children to read and others who are relieved that their children never seem to have their nose out of a book. I don’t think there is a one-size-fits-all remedy for encouraging children to read, but I do think a major factor is encouraging them to read their own choice of material at their own pace. Whether that is an advert, a comic, a magazine or a recipe book, any reading is good reading and what previously seemed a ‘must do’ chore becomes a ‘can do’ treat. And what a treat a good book is and what a tragedy when the last page is turned.
Lucy Strange also joins us. Having worked as an actor, singer, storyteller and English teacher, she lived in Dubai for five years and wrote the award-winning blog Homesick and Heatstruck. In 2014, she won the runner-up prize in the Montegrappa Writing Prize here at the festival and in 2016 published her first novel for children, Secret of Nightingale Wood.
‘Noble Art’
In the UAE, we have enormous support to ensure our children have every chance to be introduced to literature and given the opportunities to enjoy it throughout their lives. In 2016, we lived through the Year of Reading and on a more constant level, we have the UAE Board on Books for young people, whose mission is to promote a reading culture among the children and young people of the UAE in order to give every child the right to become a reader.
Often referred to as the ‘Noble Art’ in the Arab world, reading is far more than a story and a plot for the next generation, it is a rite of passage; the life skills it prepares for our children, the elation of first love and the despondence of a first loss. Every emotion they relish and sensation they dread can be seen from a safe distance through well-thumbed pages. Their books are windows into wider worlds where they can wear a cloak of invisibility and watch — and learn from — the triumphs and disasters of their fictional contemporaries.
However tempting it may be, we must remember that we cannot force a love of literature. Frustration will not help to turn the first page. A survey across Dubai schools, which the festival initiated last year, showed that children whose parents read to them in the early years were far more likely to read, and parents who continued to read regularly inspired their children to do the same.
So, for your own pleasure and the sake of your family, keep up this noble art.
Isobel Abulhoul is OBE, CEO and trustee of the Emirates Literature Foundation and director of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature.
