"Something that I was aware of growing up in Syria, but more now that I’m in Lebanon, is that classical Arabic literature is associated with many things, but it’s not associated with being a space for creative and experimental thinking. So I think the main idea for both of us with this is experimental."
6 Winners Announced for 2020 Etisalat Award for Arabic Children’s Literature
The top category, "Children's Book of the Year," went to Egyptian author Hadil Ghoneim and illustrator Sahar Abdallah for Shahrazizi’s Nights: A Tale Within a Tale Within a Tale, published by Dar al-Balsam in Egypt.
Friday Finds: ‘The Appearance of the Dragon, and His Disappearance’
Khidr’s heart was pounding as he stepped into the house. It was almost sunset, and his mom wasn’t usually this late. Was she on an emergency visit to the hospital to see his dad?
Adolescence, Food, and Illustrating Family History: A Talk About ‘Teta and Babcia’
"Say what you will, Egyptian culture has historically been a welcoming and permeable one, with a magical capacity to expand to make people feel at home. In a time where ugly polarizing discourse is on the rise, voices that highlight the diversity of Egyptians are important."
Looking for Solutions to the Challenges of Arabic Children’s Literature
"Sharafeddine noted that publishers were hesitant to publish content that bent gender-normative expectations, or that broke grammatical rules or inserted colloquial terms into a generally standard-Arabic text."
Walid Taher: ‘When I Write, I Consider Everyone a Child’
"Speaking of translation, I once went alone to a workshop in Montreuil without a translator, and so I used Google Translate to pull sentences together and I sketched with the kids and it went quite well for about two hours."
6 Winners of the 2019 Etisalat Award for Arabic Children’s Literature
Winners of the Etisalat Prize for Arabic Children's Literature were announced today in six categories — best book, best text, best illustrations, best production, best wordless picture book, and best young adult — on the opening day of the Sharjah International Book Fair.
2019 Shortlists for Etisalat Award for Arabic Children’s Literature
Prize organizers reported that this year they had received 175 submissions from around the world, and that winners in all categories -- including the new "Best Silent Book" category -- would be announced at the opening ceremony of the Sharjah International Book Fair 2019, on October 30, 2019.
By Arab Women: 6 New Books for Young Readers in Translation
It's probably not particularly surprising that of the six new Arabic books for young readers that are available in English translation in 2019, six have been written by women.
The UAEBBY on ‘Promoting a Culture of Reading’
‘Children’s rights and safety’ was the subject of the 2019 edition of ‘Books Made in UAE’. Fatima Sharafeddine, an award-winning author of books for children and young adults, conducted the workshop.
UN Book Club Promotes Arabic Titles for Kids
The list itself has interesting titles that could lend themselves to wider discussions, but it's unclear how this list -- apparently without accompanying teaching resources -- might make it into any book group or classroom.
On International Children’s Book Day, 10 to Translate from Arabic
International Children's Book Day has been celebrated since 1967, on or around Hans Christian Andersen's birthday, which is the 2nd of April, and it's celebrated to "inspire a love of reading and to call attention to children's books."
