UAE Board on Books for Young People Wraps up its Participation

The UAE Board on Books for Young People (UAEBBY) has wrapped up its participation at the 26th edition of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (ADIBF), which was held from April 27 to May 3 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre. The major literary event featured the participation of 1,260 publishing houses from 63 countries.

A major highlight of UAEBBY’s presence at the UAE capital’s leading literary festival was a visit from His Highness Lieutenant General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior. His Highness met with UEABBY representatives at the event and was briefed on its activities and initiatives. Included in the presentation to him was a video of the launch of UAEBBY’s fourth edition of the ‘Read, Dream, Create’ campaign, which was unveiled at the recently concluded Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival 2016.

Among the additional activities organised by UAEBBY at its pavilion were reading sessions from popular writers. Emirati author Maitha Al Khayat recited from the title ‘Love for Ramadan’ for a group of children, before asking each of them to write down the things they like to do during the Holy Month. She then collected the children’s writings and used them to create adetailed story. Author Samar Baraj led a reading session with the book ‘The Little Cloud,’ after which the children listening acted out the events depicted in her recital. Author Suhailah Abdulla conduct an interactive workshop for the children.

The reading sessions carried out at the UAEBBY stand were assisted by volunteers and saw the involvement of a large number of children and their families, many of whom expressed their admiration at the initiatives and campaigns launched by the organisation that aim to encourage children and young adults to pick up books, make reading a daily habit and instill a love of literature within them.

Marwa Al Aqroubi, President of UAEBBY, said "We are delighted to have participated at the 26th edition of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, through which we aimed to raise public awareness about the Read, Dream, Create campaign. UAEBBY launched the campaign at the fourth edition of the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival, which concluded last week in Sharjah, with the goal of highlighting the importance of generating a culture of reading among children,enhancing their communication skills and stimulating their thirst for knowledge.”

Al Aqroubi added: "Through the reading sessions that UAEBBY organised at its pavilion, we endeavoured to motivate children and young adults to use their imagination and employ innovative writings so they could tell the stories in their own way. This is the core idea of Read, Dream, Create. It inspires children to read or listen to a story, then unleashes their creative potential to reimagine it and paraphrase its events in the way that they want, which is exactly what we were able to achieve in the reading sessions.”