Emirati author Mohammad Abdul Jaleel Al Fahim
Emirati author Mohammad Abdul Jaleel Al Fahim discussed his book Through the Eyes of a Child with students at Dubai Raffles International School. Image Credit: Supplied

Dubai: Emirati author Mohammad Abdul Jaleel Al Fahim discussed his book Through the Eyes of a Child with students at Dubai Raffles International School this week.

The programme was organised ahead of the Spring Book Fair, which starts on Sunday. Through the Eyes of a Child is an illustrated rags to riches tale of a child, who grew up in Abu Dhabi to become a prominent businessman. Born in 1948, the author experienced poverty in the years before the discovery of oil, which transformed the UAE. Like the character in the book, he grew up barefooted. This is his eyewitness account of the transformation of the country from a Bedouin society into a country with one of the world’s highest per capita incomes within just 30 years. First published in 1995, the book has been translated into 10 languages and has sold over 500,000 copies.