Lead the children to the written word

The region's publishing industry needs to increase its efforts to develop innovative ideas and effective methods of inspiring children to read, says Shaikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Founder and Patron of the Emirates Publishers Association, Member of the Executive Committee of the International Publishers Association and Founder and CEO of Kalimat Group.
"We need to increase our energy, drive and commitment to come up with creative ideas and effective means of encouraging children to read, both in line with their cognitive abilities and the rapid pace of technological developments," said Shaikha Bodour during a meeting with journalists on the sidelines of the London Book Fair, which ended on Thursday.

Shaikha Bodour noted that a great deal of content in children's books are far away from the reality of the child's current world, which is driven by video and digital applications that can make reading uninteresting to them.  She stressed the importance of focusing on the content and quality of children's books and the need for publishers, authors and illustrators to stimulate young readers' thought processes and imaginations.
"We need to utilise innovation and creativity in children's books, thereby encouraging children to read for pleasure. Making reading fun is the only way to attract them to the written word and to make reading a source of both knowledge acquisition and entertainment."
Kalimat Group
Shaikha Bodour noted that since its creation nine years ago, Kalimat Group has received applications from a number of schools in the UAE to produce books for their students, which drove the establishment of Horouf Educational Publishing.
It aims to support Arabic learning by using the latest technologies in a package of programmes that have been designed to present subjects in an intelligent, interactive and informative format.
This, she said, implements he initiative to support learning in Arabic with the use of smart technology in Sharjah's schools, which was launched by His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, in 2013.  She said that Kalimat Publishing House, which later evolved into a group comprising three companies, is the first publishing house in the UAE dedicated solely to publishing high quality Arabic children's books. Targeting different age groups, these titles have successfully captured children's attention and won awards for their content.
"Kalimat's win of the 'Best Children's Publisher of the Year in Asia' award at the Bologna Book Fair 2016 was a groundbreaking achievement for an Emirati and Arab publishing house.
1,001 Titles
Regarding the '1,001 Titles' initiative, launched by Knowledge without Borders (KwB) in mid-February under the slogan, 'Nurturing Talent to Enrich Content,' Shaikha Bodour elaborated on its aim to release 1,001 Emirati books over the next two years in line with 2016 being declared the 'Year of Reading' in the UAE.
"The idea behind the 1,001 Titles initiative did not come out of the blue, but was the result of an in-depth study that we conducted to discover the major challenges facing the publishing industry in the UAE. The research revealed that there was a yearly decline in annual titles by publishers in the country, with the total number of books registered annually in the UAE decreasing from 431 titles two years before the study to 340 titles.
"Overall, the findings helped us reach a deeper understanding of the challenges facing us as publishers and knowledge deliverers," said Shaikha Bodour.
She added that after 1,001 Title's Committee approve the content of the books, 1,000 copies of each title will be printed by Abu Dhabi Media's United Printing and Publishing Company.  The numbers of books being printed mean that in total, one million one thousand Arabic books will become available to readers during 2016 and 2017.
In a move to support the initiative, the UAE Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development is exempting publishers from the International Standard Book Number (ISBN), fees for printed books.
Shaikha Bodour revealed that the 1,001 Titles initiative has so far received the content for more than 160 books, with selected titles to be printed before the forthcoming edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair, which takes place in November .
She pointed out that the initiative will play a significant role in promoting Emirati books and highlighting creative Emirati minds to attract readers and win regional and international literary awards. So far, Kalimat has released more than 200 books, generally printing around 3,000 copies of each title.
Kalimat's achievements
> Best Children's Publisher of the Year in Asia' award at the Bologna Book Fair 2016
> Bologna Ragazzi Award in the 'New Horizons' category for 'Lisanak Hisanak' ('Tongue Twisters'), a book authored by Fatima Sharafeddine and illustrated by Hanane Kai
What's 1001 Titles?
> The project is launched by Knowledge without Borders under the slogan Nurturing Talent to Enrich Content.
> 1,001 Emirati books will be released under the initiative in two years.
> It will provide Emirati authors with financial support to publish new titles that highlight the UAE's past and present, as well as its aspirations for the future
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