Etisalat Children's Book Award in Cape Town Book Fair

The Etisalat Award for Arabic Children's Literature has participated in the Cape Town Book Fair, Africa's premier book fair, held recently in Cape Town, South Africa, as part of the Sharjah International Book Fair's stand. The Award's participation in such a prestigious international cultural event constitutes a new step geared towards opening up broader horizons and provides an excellent platform for the award's organizers to meet and network with global publishing houses, international institutions and experts in the book industry. It also aims to promote the award and highlight the major role it plays in the cultural movement in the field of children's literature in the entire Arab region. Hamad Hareb Al Habsi, UAE Ambassador of South Africa visited Etisalat Award for Arabic Children's Literature stand, and valued the efforts that are being made for the success of this Award. Speaking about the Award's participation, Marwa Al Aqroubi, General Coordinator of Etisalat Award for Arabic children's literature, said, "We are very pleased that Etisalat Award for Arabic Children's Literature participated at such a major cultural event which offers us a precious opportunity to meet, network and exchange expertise with publishers and professionals in the field." She added, "Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, President of the UAE Board on Books for Young People (UAEBBY) have always been clear in her directives for us to show strong presence at every possible cultural event." Al Aqroubi noted that the Etisalat Award was launched upon an initiative by Sheikha Bodour to encourage authors, men of letters and artists, to contribute to developing the culture of children through their literary, artistic and scientific creativity. She added the award forms part of UAE endeavours and contributions to support children's culture and literature as well as to encourage a new generation of authors and illustrators develop Arabic children's literature. The Award, which has invited entries from Arab and international publishing houses to participate in its fourth edition aims to encourage creativity and innovation among authors and men of letters to produce high-quality children's books that will help develop the mental and cognitive skills of children and enrich the library of Arabic literature. It also aims to encourage publishers to support and develop the Arabic children's book industry. The Etisalat Award for Arabic Children's Literature was launched in 2009 with the support of Etisalat, and is worth AED1 million, making it one of the most significant and the most valuable award for children's literature in the Arab world today.