The first Children's Literature Fair organized by the Qatari Publishing and Distributors Forum at the Tawar Mall..Picture by: Salim Matramkot/The Peninsula
Qatar’s first Children’s Literature Fair was officially launched yesterday organised by the Qatari Publishers and Distributions Forum.
Hundreds of children gathered in this unique event that not only offers children’s books, also workshops, storytelling, Puppet Theatre, Reading Corner, among others.
The Children’s Literature Fair has a perfect strategy for kids to love and read books — workshops that help them read and play altogether. And theatrical performances in the form of puppetry, storytelling, competi-tions, and the Nutty Scientists wherein kids get to experiment and learn science by having fun.
The fair made it very enticing to children to read and enjoy at the same time through the said activities.
Speaking to The Peninsula, General Coordinator of the fair Amna Mohamad Abugrgaa, said the fair intends to support Qatari publishers and readers, provide a point of sale in order for them to recover during the height of COVID-19, as well as promote and encourage reading amongst children, in a way to get them to love books.
She added that as restrictions have loosened up and people are getting back to normal.“We want to engage kids and we felt that is very important to have fair that targets specifically kids,” she said.Meanwhile, to make reading extra interesting, Qatar Reads offers pro-grammes for a more interactive and exciting way to get the kids to read.
The organisation is under Qatar Foundation Community Development. Qatar Reads’ Project Manager, Fatema Majed Al Malki disclosed that the organisation has seen positive changes over the years because of their programs. “They started to value reading,” she said. Al Malki noted that they want, “to instill social progress through reading. Make a change in the community and focus on behaviours we like to see, focus on the Arabic culture, Qatari identity and a lot of fun things.” There are three programmes under Qatar Reads which include “Family Reading Program” aimed to create home libraries for children aged three to 13
Every month, a child receives two books, activity worksheets, and comics. The languages available are English and Arabic. “Mommy to Be” which was recently launched on May 2021 seeking to encourage mothers to read to their children before they are born. “Read to Lead,” a program that cultivates leaders for tomorrow, it targets students, young professionals, and seasoned employees. And “School Membership Program” intends to create a shared reading experience among Qatar’s public and private school students.
12 publishers joined in the Children’s Literature Fair including Dar Al Sharq, Samarkand Books, Zekreet Pub-lishing, Crescent Bookshop, Qatar University Press, Katara Publishing House, among others. By next year, the Forum plans to invite international publishers. The fair being conducted at Tawar Mall will last until tomorrow, November 20 in time of the World Children’s Day
