World Book Day: UAE kids share unique reading initiatives

On World Book Day, UAE kids share their unique reading initiatives like providing books in school buses, creating an online platform for bookworms, writing e-books and more
Providing books in school buses
Books On Wheels is the student-led innovative initiative of The Winchester School, Jebel Ali, which aims to provide books in school buses for students and staff members to productively utilise travel time during their commute. It's the brainchild of students, Aaditya and Aditi Gandhi.
"A book collection drive was organised in the school wherein all students donated gently used books of all genres for this great cause. Volunteers were thereafter involved in book sorting and labelling, which was followed up with the assembling book boxes that contained books for different age groups," recall the siblings.
Reading Ambassadors, will in the future, manage the bus libraries efficiently. "Books On Wheels is an innovative initiative to promote reading. We are very proud of our students and all members of the Winchester family support and nurture our students to strive for excellence," shared Meenakshi Dahiya, School Principal and CEO. We can't wait to get back to school buses!

A virtual platform for bookworms
The global Covid-19 crisis and the prolonged stay indoors paved a path for Aishwaryaa (Grade 7) and Divyalakshmi (Grade 11), budding visionaries of GEMS Our Own English High School, Dubai to launch OOD Readers' Paradise, a great initiative with the motto "Read. Aspire. Be." This collaborative was started under the guidance and support of their mentor Marie Ramos, head of research and design, GEMS Our Own English High School, Dubai. OOD Readers' Paradise is a platform for readers around the world, where they can share their thoughts on inspiring books they have read. This initiative ensures that reading and learning happens collaboratively. Aishwaryaa and Divyalakshmi are encouraging readers to take a break from screen time, grab a book! As a book lover, one gets to post a book review and participate in many activities, including quizzes and puzzles posted on their blog www.oodreadersparadise.blogspot.com. Over the past few weeks, Aishwaryaa and Divyalakshmi have received a good response to all their posts, quizzes and activities from students across the UAE and India. Readers are enthusiastically participating in the Daily Reading Challenges.

A book on Australian bushfires 
Emaan Zahra Ijaz, GEMS Westminster School Sharjah, has written an e-book on the Australian forest's disasters and global warming. Titled 'Fleeing From The Flames', it about global warming, the environment in general, and how humans are the reason we are standing where we are.

Get these apps
Ann Mary Joseph, The Indian High School, Dubai feels that one of the strangest things about technology is that it is all about decreasing human effort, yet it runs on man's brainpower. "For us, kids, technology is a powerhouse of information, a medium to connect and a vast bottomless pit of tools to use to enhance creativity and productivity," she says. She highly recommends two apps for reading buffs: Pages, "It is an app where you can create documents, letters, books, etc. You can even publish your works here! 'Books', also developed by Apple Inc,  exposes readers to a world of literary works by leading authors. "You can download books and add them to your library. Your 'Reading Time' can be monitored too. I have
read many books through this app."