Sharjah is no longer simply hosting a children’s award – it is demonstrating how sustained public investment can build a sustainable market for Arab children’s literature.
The awards in brief
Three Arab publishers took home the 13th Arab Children’s Book Publishers Forum Award at the 45th Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) on Sunday.
Kalimat (UAE) won Best Book for Early Childhood for Kun Qareeban (Stay Close) by Jikar Khorshid, illustrated by Somaya Mohammadi; Jordan’s Al Ahlia won the Middle Childhood category for Amani Suleiman Daoud’s I Always Dream of Flying, illustrated by Amani Youssef; and UAE-based Lulu took the Young Readers award for Mohamed Oweida’s Cherry Jam, illustrated by Hiyam Safwat.
The three cash prizes, totalling 75,000 UAE dirhams (about $20,400), were presented by Ahmed bin Rakkad Al Ameri, CEO of the Sharjah Book Authority, in the presence of Forum secretary-general Fadel Hussein Bousaim.
How the winners are chosen
A jury drawn from across the Arab world – Dr Nabehah Mhiedly (Lebanon), Dr Abdullah Al Sharhan (UAE), Dr Mohamed Fathy (Egypt) and Hassan Benmouna (Morocco) – judged entries on content and design quality, originality of ideas, contemporary approaches and organisation, with particular weight given to meaningful themes, cultural and social values, and the quality of Arabic as a language of knowledge.
Two decades of institutional investment
The award does not exist in isolation. The Forum itself was established in Sharjah in 2007 by Bodour Al Qasimi, who had founded Kalimat the same year – and whose house is now an award winner. Within two years the body had grown to some 60 member publishers.
In 2009 the Forum launched what became the Etisalat Award for Arabic Children’s Literature, later transferred to UAEBBY in 2010.
A world-scale stage
This year’s ceremony unfolded within SIBF’s 45th edition (4–15 November), which brings together 2,673 publishers and exhibitors from 124 countries for some 1,500 events, with Oman as guest of honour.
The View From The Beach
Research on Arab children’s publishing shows that prize seals boost visibility and sales, while prize money is reinvested in better production.
For rights professionals, the pattern is familiar: prizes professionalise the field. Sharjah is no longer simply hosting a children’s award – it is demonstrating how sustained public investment can build a sustainable market for Arab children’s literature.
This post first appeared in the TNPS LinkedIn newsfeed.
