Books shortlisted for Etisalat Award for Arabic Children's Literature

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The announcement of the books shortlisted for the 7th edition of the Etisalat Award for Arabic Children's Literature was attended by His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah on Thursday at the Frankfurt International Book Fair in Germany.
The shortlist winners were announced in the presence of Shaikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Founder and Patron of the UAE Board on Books for Young People (UAEBBY), Abdulaziz Taryam, CEO Advisor and General Manager in the Northern Emirates at Etisalat, Marwa Obaid Al Aqroubi, President of the UAEBBY Executive Board and a large number of international media representatives, international publishers and visitors to the fair. The winners of the region's premier literary prize for children's literature will be announced during the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) taking place next month.
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Shaikha Bodour emphasized that the Etisalat Award for Children's Literature will carry on with the mission it started seven years ago, to develop Arab children's books by motivating professionals in this sector to release high quality books in terms of both content and design in order to inspire, educate and motivate the next generation of young Arabs to live up to the aspirations of a better future.
"The main goal of the award is to provide outstanding Arab books that can attract children to read, while developing their cognitive abilities.  Today, we see publishers, authors and illustrators show ever greater interest in participating in the award, and they are producing high quality titles for children and adolescents." said Shaikha Bodour.
Shaikha Bodour added that this growing interest had resulted in publishing professional from beyond the Arab world entering the competition. "This is evidenced by entries from the UK and Canada who are participating in the award for the first time, along with 10 Arab countries," adding, "The future depends on the development of our children and we know that reading is a fundamental tool, and learned skill, that will improve intellect, garner knowledge and increase the capabilities of our youth. Therefore, we must continue working on development of Arab children's books for the future of our nations."
The Dh1 million Etisalat Award for Arabic Children's Literature is distributed as follows: Dh300,000 for the Children's Book of the year, to be distributed equally between the author, illustrator and publisher (Dh100,000 each); Dh 200,000 for the Young Adult Book of the year, to be distributed equally between the author and publisher (Dh100,000 each); and Dh300,000 for the Best Text, Best Illustration, and Best Production categories (Dh100,000 each). The remaining Dh200, 000 is set aside for workshops on writing, illustration, and production aimed at nurturing and inspiring the next generation of young Arab talent in the children's book industry.