The world of Arabic books springs to life for children

From the UAE to Morocco, the Arab world has been witnessing a different kind of Arab Spring – that of the publishing kind.

The region has the smallest reading audience in the world, according to a recent UN Arab Human Development Report, but it has witnessed the establishment of many specialised children’s publishing houses.

Before their emergence, children’s books were a neglected side business. As a result, generations of children in the Arab world were offered boring and visually unappealing books or translated books from the West that did not reflect their environment. (The one exception being Dar El Fata El Arabi, which was set up in the 1970s to bring attention to the Palestinian cause.)

At the forefront of this new literary spring are women. These female “literary activists” are hoping to encourage reading from a young age and improve literacy in the Arab world.

However, they face a tough task because there are many challenges, such as a lack of talented writers, copyright issues, poor distribution links and the indifference of the cultural ministries. Lebanese publisher Nabeeha Al Meheidli is considered one of the pioneers of children’s publishing. She started the Dar Al Hadaek house more than 20 years ago to publish Arabic books for children that are written by Arabs.

Original article by Shadiah Abdullah Al Jabry

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The world of Arabic books springs to life for children