The UAE Board on Books for Young People (UAEBBY), sponsored by (Dana Gas) and (Children and Girls Center in Sharjah) , has announced the launch of a variety of activities to mark International Children’s Book Day.
Each year, UAEBBY organises events to celebrate International Children’s Book Day, one of the biggest and most important events on its calendar. This year’s activities will be carried out in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development, Knowledge Without Borders, the Sharjah Theatres Group, the Emirates Publishers Association, as well as a number of other government and private organisations and libraries.
The occasion will be celebrated with a host of activities to be held across the country throughout April, including the distribution of children’s books to schools and children’s centres, reading sessions by celebrities, theatrical shows and international puppet shows, among others. In addition, a variety of activities – including radio broadcasts, book fairs, magazines, and topical lectures – have also been organised by a number of UAE schools.
Publishing houses dedicated to promoting children’s books, such as Kalimat Publishing and Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation, will also participate in the celebrations by distributing free books and offering discounts on new releases and titles at participating bookstores – Borders , Magrudy’s and Jashanmal – during April.
According to UAEBBY President Her Excellency Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, International Children’s Book Day offers an appropriate opportunity to raise awareness of children’s literature, and highlights the need to give this extremely important cause – which greatly impacts on today’s children and future generations – the necessary attention.
She spoke of the importance of reviving the children’s literary scene and consolidating the relation between the local community and the private sector that supports such initiatives, saying “The celebration of International Children’s Book Day aims to encourage reading amongst children, and to address the cultural challenges facing children in the UAE in an age of cultural openness. It not only equips them with the power of knowledge, but also qualifies them to deal with, and ultimately benefit from, such challenges.â€
Sheikha Bodour also underlined the importance of such events in creating a platform for all parties and bodies concerned with literature, as well as professionals in child-related and theatrical arts, to network and exchange ideas and expertise on the topic of children’s literature, theatre, free drawing, painting and music. She further underscored the importance of quoting texts that are well-matched to the Arab identity and its unique characteristics, adding that the momentum of this cultural extravaganza will give a boost to children’s literature in the UAE.
Commenting on the occasion, Dana Gas CEO Ahmed Alarbed said, “Private companies are an integral part of society and its issues and concerns, and I am proud that Dana Gas has chosen to participate in such an important event for the benefit of children, who are our future. Dana Gas is always keen to sponsor activities that contribute to developing human capital, and UAEBBY’s International Children’s Book Day activities fit this bill perfectlyâ€.
UAEBBY aims to enhance communication with bodies and organisations from around the world concerned with children’s culture and literature through the exchange of expertise and information, and to develop and encourage the creation and production of works dedicated to children so as to upgrade children’s literature and arts.
UAEBBY is striving to deliver books to the largest possible number of children in the UAE, and offers easy access to books for all children, especially those who live in remote areas. It also encourages the writing and producing of children’s books, the setting up of public libraries for children in the UAE, the translation of high-quality books from and into Arabic, and the improvement of the quality of children’s books in the UAE to international standards.
