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Silent books speak loud and clear

Dubai - "Silent books have proven useful in migrant communities because they have a unifying element that transcends across cultures

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More silent books need to be produced from the Arab world to facilitate outreach to the migrant and refugee communities residing in Europe, say book publishing executives.
The UAE Board on Books for Young People (UAEBBY) started their Silent Book exhibition at the Flying Saucer hall in Sharjah to present books without words, telling the story using the power of images rather than text.
The exhibition, hosted by the Sharjah Art Foundation until September 30, aims to increase awareness around silent books and promote their printing and publication across the Arab region. In the next two months, the exhibition will host workshops for illustrators and publishers to introduce them to designing silent books.

Exhibition details > What: Silent book exhibition > Where: The Flying Saucer, Sharjah > When: August 1- September 30 > Opening hours: 10am to 8pm everyday except Friday from 4pm to 10pm > Open: To the general public, publishers and illustrators

Joshua Dunning, executive of international projects at the UAEBBY, told Khaleej Times that producing silent books from the region would help Arab refugee communities in Europe with limited or no access to books to identify with relatable characters while having a fun learning experience.
"Silent books have proven useful in migrant communities because they have a unifying element that transcends across cultures. An Arabic speaker can pass the book on to someone whose language they don't follow at all, and both people will read the same book and understand it differently," said Dunning.
However, it is important to publish silent books from the Arab region to make characters, morals and messages of books relatable to Arabic refugee children residing in Europe, he said.
"Arab refugee children will be reading books produced in Europe so they might not identify with the characters, morals and messages they see in these books. We have to look at publishing more high quality picture books, storybooks or silent books from this region to them," added Dunning.
The project started when the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) launched a library in Italy's Lampedusa, a large island in the Mediterranean Sea that received a large influx refugees entering Europe.
The board wanted to provide a library for refugee children and the local community through wordless books that can be accessible to different cultures.
The initiative then grew into an international silent book exhibition that took the message of silent books around different parts of the world, through two collections in 2013 and 2015.
Sharjah's exhibition is displaying the 2015 collection of 51 sil-ent books from 18 countries, with additional three books from Lebanon and Jordan.
"After research, we found three published silent books by Arab publishers, so we added them to introduce visitors to silent books and their importance in the Arab region," said Dunning.
He added that since the exhibition's announcement, the UAEBBY received more responses from other Arab publishing houses and will be adding additional display for Arab silent books.
"Each and every book has a different message. They are brain exercises that allow children and adults alike to look at different pictures and connect them into a story together," said Dunning.
The 2017 collection, which the international board is working on finishing soon, will add up-to-date international silent books.

How silent books help children

Rania Turk, founder of Hikayati Publishing House for silent books in Jordan, who has two books displayed at the exhibi-tion, said: "Besides the cognitive benefits and the imagination and creativity spurred by a silent book, it helps children learn the spoken word and a wide range of vocabularies." She stressed on the presence of silent books in each child's library at an early age.
"Unfor-tunately, a lot of parents aren't aware of importance of wordless books. Children are best when they're allowed to participate in a story, which allows them to ask questions and create a storyline for themselves," said Turk.
She urged more publishing houses to include silent books as part of their projects.
Her book My Grandma's House illustrates nostalgic moments at a grandmother's house through images that display lunch preparations with family members, to help children below four years old label their environment.
Her second book titled Where tells a story of finding a lady-bug through colourful images.
According to Turk, silent books are essential to spark a dialogue with children around stories and encourage them to participate in the storytelling process.
sherouk@khaleejtimnes.com