The storytelling sessions debuted with narrations of My Mother’s Magic Socks by Maitha Al Khayat and When The Air Thinks by Al Yazia Al Suwaidi, as well as Why Not? by Jordanian writer Tagreed Al Najjar, who ignited young imaginations with riveting narrations of their works, taking audiences on a magical journey of the seas and the prairies, while also leaving them with valuable messages on the importance of imbibing good values and positive behaviours.

Meera Al Naqbi, the UAEBBY’s General Coordinator, said: “These storytelling sessions reaffirm the importance of establishing a relationship between children and books early on, and encourages them to explore the vast and wonderful world of the written word. Through these sessions, we aim to stoke their imagination and train their communicative as well as cognitive skills. The campaign furthers our goals to continually offer quality content to young readers, especially now when children are confined to their homes due to a global health crisis and must be offered new avenues to explore their interests and develop their capacities.”

“Through these storytelling sessions, we seek to present literature to children in the most attractive and engaging ways. This is why we have approached accomplished Emirati children’s authors with vast experience and expertise. Hopefully through these face-to-face interactions, these authors will gain an understanding of how they can create more engaging content for children, which will in turn, serve to attract more children to read and inspire them to turn it into a daily habit,” she added.

Launched in 2013 by UAEBBY, the ‘Read. Dream. Create’ campaign seeks to bring children and books together. It promotes reading as a noble activity among the Emirati community, especially within children and young people, developing their capacity to innovate and create, as well as motivating them to use their literary skills through writing stories.