Winners of Etisalat Award for Arabic Children’s Literature to be Announced Tomorrow

The winners of the ninth edition of the Etisalat Award for Arabic Children’s Literature (Etisalat Award), will be announced tomorrow (Wednesday) at the commencement of the 36th edition of Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF).

The revealing of the names of the winners for this year’s edition of the annual award, which is organised by the UAE Board on Books for Young People (UAEBBY) and sponsored by Etisalat Group, will be a main feature of the opening ceremony of SIBF 2017, which runs from November 1-11, 2016, at Expo Centre Sharjah.

This year’s winners have been selected from a shortlist comprising eight Arab countries, which was announced by the Etisalat Award’s management at the Frankfurt International Book Fair earlier this month. The shortlist announcement was made during the UAEBBY’s participation in the Sharjah Pavilion at the fair, which concluded on October 15.

The Etisalat Award jury, the members of which will be unveiled along with the winners tomorrow, approved the list of books which have been nominated to win in the award’s six categories. In the ‘Children’s Book of the Year’ category, the shortlisted books are: I’m the Superdot by Laila Zahed, illustrated by Angela Nurpetlian and published by Turning Point (Lebanon); Hamada, the Happiness Maker by Samah Abobakr Ezzat, illustrated by Sahar Abdallah and published by Al Borj Media Publishing and Distribution (UAE); Something in my Hand, written by Hayfa Sawarka, illustrated by Maya Fidawi and published by Al Salwa Publishers (Jordan); and Two Homes Instead of One by Lorca Sbeity, illustrated by Mona Yakzan and published by Dar Al Saqi (Lebanon).

The shortlisted books in the ‘Young Adult Book of the Year’ category are: One Day the Sun Will Shine by Taghreed Najjar, published by Al Salwa Publishers (Jordan); The Phoenix by Dr. Sonia Namir, published by Tamer Institute for Community Education (Palestine); When Life Throws Us Together by Rania Zbib Daher, published by Academia International (Lebanon); Emirati Proverbs by Dr. Ali Abdulqader Al Hammadi, published by Al Buragh Publishers (Iraq); and Cappuccino, by Fatima Sharafeddine, published by Dar Al Saqi (Lebanon).

In the ‘Best Text’ category, the shortlisted books are: The Unseen by Amal Farah, illustrated by Osama Abou El Ella and published by Shagara publishing house (Egypt); My Mother is a Gorilla and My Father is an Elephant by Dr. Naseeba Al Ozaibi, illustrated by Abdulrazaque Al Salhany, published by Al Aalm Al Arabi publishing house (UAE); When the Whale Sneezed by Mariam Tarhini, illustrated by Baraa Awoor and published by Asala publishing house (Lebanon); and Whatever Happened to My Brother Ramiz? by Taghreed Najjar, illustrated by Maya Fidawi and published by Al Salwa Publishers (Jordan).

In the ‘Best Illustration’ category, four books are shortlisted: Princess Dana by Abeer Al-Taher, illustrated by Amar Khattab and published by Dar Al Yasmine (Jordan); White and Black by Samah Abobakr Ezzat, illustrated by Sahar Abdallah and published by Al Borj Media Publishing and Distribution (UAE); The Seventh Day’s Sheep by Amina Al Hashemi, illustrated by Maya Fidawi and published by Yanbow Al Kitab (Morocco); and The Olive Tree by Eva Kozma, illustrated by Themar Halawani and published by Academia International (Lebanon).

The shortlisted books in the ‘Best Production’ category include: Goodbye by Nabiha Mheidli, illustrated by Lujayna Al Asil and published by Al Hadaek Group (Lebanon); Something in My Hand by Haifa Sawarka, illustrated by Maya Fidawi and published by Al Salwa Publishers (Jordan); My World by Fatima Sharafeddine, illustrated by Fereshteh Najafi and published by Dar Al Saqi (Lebanon); and Whatever Happened to My Brother Ramiz by Taghreed  Najjar, illustrated by Maya Fidawi and published by Al Salwa Publishers (Jordan).

The most recent category for the Etisalat Award, which makes its first ever appearance this year, is the ‘Digital Book App of the Year,’ which has three entries for its inaugural edition shortlisted from the 21 received: I Dream to Be, developed by Bee Studio (Egypt), which targets the age group 4-7 years; Kadi and Ramadi, developed by Kadi and Ramadi Publishing (Saudi Arabia) for the age group 4-10 years; and Lamsa, developed by the Lamsa company (UAE), which targets the age group 2-8 years.

The AED 1.2 million (USD 327,000) Etisalat Award prize money is divided between its six categories as follows: ‘Children’s Book of the Year’ is worth AED 300,000 distributed equally between the author, illustrator and publisher; ‘Young Adult Book of the Year’ is worth AED 200,000 distributed equally between the author and publisher; and ‘Best Text,’ ‘Best Illustration,’ ‘Best Production’ and ‘Digital Book App of the Year’ worth AED 100,000 each. AED 300,000 from the Etisalat Award is dedicated to organising workshops to help develop the talent of promising Arab writers, illustrators and publishers through its ‘Warsha’ programme.