The Etisalat Award for Arabic Children’s Literature (Etisalat Award), organised by the UAE Board on Books for Young People (UAEBBY) and sponsored by the Etisalat Group, held four storytelling sessions for children to mark its participation at the 51st edition of Cairo International Book Fair (CIBF), which concludes on February 4, witnessed the participation of 900 local, regional and international publishers.

Designed to stimulate the imagination and creativity of children, these sessions featured books, which were recognised by the Etisalat Award – the most prominent literary accolade for Arabic children’s literature – in 2019. Two storytelling sessions each were held at CIBF and the Al Balsam Publishing House stand.

Storyteller Haytham Shukri enthralled young audiences with readings from A story on ‘S&L’ written and illustrated by the popular Palestinian duo, Anas Abu Rahma and Lubna Taha, and published by Al Dar Al Ahlia in Jordan. This book won the Etisalat Award’s coveted ‘Best Book of the Year’.

Winner of the ‘Best Text’ prize, Damascus: The Story of a City, written and illustrated by Alaa Murtada, and published by Dar Al-Balsam Publishing House in Egypt, also captivated the interest of the children.

The delegation at the event held a series of meetings with several regional and international publishing houses, Egyptian and Arab cultural institutions, and experts in the field to discuss ways to improve children’s literature in the Arabic language and to create and support content for the new generation of readers.

Marwa Al Aqroubi, President of UAEBBY, commented: “Our participation at the Cairo International Book Fair was a unique opportunity to open dialogue between the fair’s visitors and Arab authors. By offering this platform for interaction, we further Etisalat Award’s vision to elevate the children’s book industry in the Arab world by attracting other aspiring and upcoming regional talents in the field of content and illustration.”

“The meetings and storytelling sessions organised by the UAEBBY are a creative way of promoting the publications and creative prowess of authors and illustrators who have previously won the Etisalat Award in any of the award’s categories. At the UAEBBY, we believe that the mission of such literary awards must not only be to offer one-time encouragement by honouring the accomplishments of outstanding authors, illustrators and publishers who make up the contemporary Arab children’s literature landscape, but continue to support them by bringing them closer to their target audiences.”

Since its inception in 2009, the Etisalat Award for Arabic Children’s Literature has been able to bring about a paradigm shift in the lives of authors, illustrators, developers and publishers of Arabic children’s and young adults’ literature. The Award has contributed to grooming a host of publishing experts who have become agents of positive change on the cultural and literary landscape.

The Etisalat Award for Arabic Children’s Literature was launched in 2009 as an initiative by Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Founder and Patron of the UAEBBY. The award aims to raise the overall quality of Arabic literature by introducing a high value award to recognise outstanding contributions in the field.