Sharjah: A 15-year old UAE-based Sri Lankan student has pre-launched his soon-to-be published fourth book at the ongoing 41st Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF).
Sanith Santhasa Piyadigamage said his upcoming book titled ‘Lies of Omission’ will give a “modern perspective and help students understand the second World War” as he talked to students his age during a session titled ‘A Crucial Decade’.
He said: “World War II was one of the most definitive events of the 20th century. ‘Lies of Omission’ offers an insight into an era of moral and political leadership and eroding of values. Through its pages, the book evaluates and analyses the state of mind which led to the defeat, particularly of the fascist leaders of the time.”
Explaining more about his subject, Sanith said: “I’ve actually been reading for quite a long time and I’ve always had this interest of sharing my thoughts with the world, figuring out why people do the things they do.”
Sanith published his first book at the age 10 (Thoughts of A Ten-Year-Old) and was followed by ‘Tolerance for Happiness’ in 2019, in time for the UAE’s Year of Tolerance. His third book, ‘An Anthology of Expressions’ was launched last year at the 2021 edition of SIBF.
‘Magic of Plastic Land’
SIBF also hosted a show titled ‘Magic of Plastic Land’ introducing youth to the basics of recycling.
Additionally, Italian performers held an interactive ‘Scienza Della Plastica’ edutainment show. They introduced Mr. Plastic, Professor Polymer and Ms. Polyester – who took the kids on a journey into the world of machines that help compress soft and hard plastics to produce recyclable materials.
The show taught children how two bottles can be used to make a plastic disc and seven bottles can produce a T-shirt while a fleece blanket would need 20 bottles.
Art of folding papers
In another session at SIBF, children were taught how to create pieces of art using the age-old technique of quilling papers.
The instructor started the workshop by saying: “All we need are glue, paper and the quilling tool. We also need a stencil board, so you [children] can choose the size and shape of the pattern you want to design before you transform them into a picture.”
The children applied glue to thin strips of brightly coloured paper and twirled the sheets into different shapes and work of art.
This year’s SIBF has a total of 1,500 activities led by 150 guests from 57 countries. The book fair will run until November 13 at Expo Centre Sharjah.
