Bursting with Wonders - The Sharjah Children's Reading Festival 2018 Opens Next Week

SHARJAH , UAE , April 13, 2018 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Just as our body strengthens and becomes sturdier as a result of flexing and exercising our muscles, our brain benefits in the similar fashion becoming stronger and enhanced from exercise in the form of intellectual and creative activities, of which reading is a primary impetus. It is astounding the way reading adds to our cognitive ability and development attaining higher levels of awareness and augmenting neural activity as well as improving the overall mental health. The acclaimed novelist, scholar, translator, essayist and editor, Alberto Manguel has even gone as far as to describe his experience of learning to read as “acquiring a new sense, so that now certain things no longer consists merely of what my eyes could see, my ears could hear, my tongue could taste, my nose could smell, my fingers could feel, but of what my whole body could decipher, translate, give voice to, read”.

This promised horizon of possibilities and exposure to diversity and cerebral growth, is exactly what the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF) is all about, opening at Expo Centre Sharjah on 18th April 2018 for 11 days of discovery, creativity and exploration. Held annually under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, the UAE Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, and the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher Bint Muhammad Al Qasimi, the cultural festival is aimed at inspiring and promoting a culture of reading, learning and applying that knowledge especially amongst children, helping to raise a generation of scholars and leaders that the society can benefit from at all levels.

A bright, eclectic constellation of authors, illustrators, speakers, thespians and publishing professionals will grace the SCRF, as Sharjah celebrates the 10th edition of the famous festival, alongside over 120 local and international publishers with a collection of their books on display for sale. Based on this year’s theme ‘Your Future… Just a Book Away’, Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) has revealed a packed itinerary of the most amazing and diverse range of workshops and activities for the children’s festival.

Celebrated authors, storytellers and illustrators will join to read their famous works and meet their fans at the festival such as Lebanese author and founder of Hunna Group for Female Emirati Writers and Creators, Sahar Mahfouz; Palestinian author and illustrator Fadwa Al Qasem Fadwa; and Egyptian author and scriptwriter Amr Samir Atef. Traveling down from other continents will be eminent writers, essayists and poets, talking about creativity, humorous literature, articulating information, as well as writing poems and illustrating like Ed Vere from Britain, Mirada Paul from USA, Natasha Sharma from India, Michael M. Coroza from Philippines, and regarded as one of the most innovative storytellers today, Mark Gonzalez, also from the USA.

Joining from the world of theater and creative arts, Egypt’s favorite actors Sabrin and Abdul Rahman Abu Zahra; Bahrain’s Haifa Hussein; Algeria’s Tareq Al Arabi Tarkan; Oman’s Mohammed Bin Khalfan Al Hanaee; Syria’s Dr. Mustafa Abdul Fattah, Founder and Chairman of the Children’s Literary Club and the much adored voice of animated movies such as ‘Mowgli’, ‘Captain Majid’ and the “Small Fisherman’, actress Amal Hawijeh.

This star-studded event will incorporate insight and discussion from Christine S. Bellen from the Philippines talking about the relationship between novelists and filmmakers and the journey ‘From Page to Screen’. Whereas Darya Yegorina from Ireland, the CEO of CleverBooks, will be sharing her knowledge about emerging and innovative technologies for education.

However, the 10th edition of the SCRF includes something huge in ed-tech that will be a part of the event for the first time. Led by Dr. Sana Farid from Bahrain, the pioneer ARVR & Ai Strategist and CEO of VRXOne, sessions will be held on Virtual Reality for education demonstrated by an Expert Google Expeditions trainer. In the spirits of delivering thorough understanding and connecting with the Emirati youth, these sessions will be delivered in Arabic language. This is an amazing opportunity for the youth to get familiar with the use of VR in education and experience Google Expeditions at the platform of VRXone – the biggest Virtual Reality program in the region, already taking a million VR sessions to schools in the Middle East. It is noteworthy here that Dr. Sana Farid has recently been awarded by UAE Ministry of Education earlier this month for her proficient participation in Gulf Teachers Training Forum, where she delivered workshops for Immersive learning platforms for teachers attending the session from all over UAE.

The festival will also host academics including Dr. Reem Al Fawwaz, Assistant Professor and Researcher in Children’s Literature and Literary Criticism at the Arabic Language Department of the King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah as well as Toqa Abdelrahim, a teacher and civil activist who founded the ‘Whites’ initiative on women’s and children’s issues, and Dr. Najla Bashour, Professor of Educational Science at the University of Saint Joseph, whose participation is noted for founding the Tala Establishment for Educational Aids and Instruments in 1984.

The Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival will be a jewel-speckled, happening event where children will be able to get in touch with their creative side and elevate intellectual tendencies – and to add to their inspiration and excitement– including the chance to win the “Innovation Award” for 9 to 15-year-olds, rewarding the creativity, originality and resourcefulness of those who exhibit the propensity lo lead with pioneering ideas and concepts in the fields of science and knowledge. The festival will further include four different competitions on innovation, news reporting, poetry, and cooking, in order to further shape and develop skilled based knowledge and competencies among the Emirati youth. So if you are anywhere in the Middle East during the month of April, this is where you need to be through these much-awaited 11 days of the SCRF 2018.

Hajra Khan
Munfarid Consulting Co. SPC.
+97366656613
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