children between the ages of 2 and 12 and also into their reading preferences, which
proved similar to children universally.
Workshops were organized for writers and illustrators, and manuscripts suitable for
publication were produced. In 1994 the Institute received the IBBY Asahi Award for its
efforts in promoting reading among children in Lebanon.
In the 1980s developments also took place in Egypt and children’s books benefited
from the involvement of Mrs Suzanne Mubarak, wife of the Egyptian President, who
became Chair of the Egyptian Section of IBBY when it was formed in 1987. She
established the Suzanne Mubarak Awards for children’s books to encourage a new
generation of writers. Winners include Sameh Moussa El Shandouly, Farid Mohamed
Awad for The Sun Always Rises and Taher Said Thabet for The Princess and the Bride of
the Nile. These are all collections of short stories, published by the Egyptian National
Book Organization, which has the facilities, financial resources and staff to print and
distribute children’s books. Awards have also been made to poets writing for children.
The same intellectual-political climate that prevailed in Lebanon in the 1960s was also
to be found in Syria. Suleiman El Issa, writer of poems, plays and stories, wanted to
arouse national consciousness among the young. Other Syrian writers such as Abdullah
Abd, Adel Abu Shanab and Zacharia Tamer were more concerned about the messages
they intended to convey as opposed to the language and style. Consequently their
writings were difficult for children to read and understand. Iraq saw a boom in
children’s literature in the following decade when foreign experts were called in to advise
local writers on how to produce good books for children. All this unfortunately came to a
halt at the time of the Iran-Iraq war in 1980, followed by the Gulf war and the blockade
imposed on Iraq.
Egypt and Lebanon, therefore, continue to make the major contribution to children’s
literature throughout the Arab world while Iraq, Jordan, Tunis, Algeria and Kuwait
encourage their own local authors. The revenue from the oil industry has been used to
finance publishing houses, some specifically devoted to publishing for young people.
There is a general recognition of the need for information books written in a stimulating
and creative way, although from 1987 onwards there have been more books about
science and technology, encyclopedias of the arts, craft books and compilations of
general knowledge, as well as books on religious themes.
The need to encourage more writers and illustrators to work in the field of children’s
books remains, and there is also a need for a good network of children’s libraries if
books are to reach all children. Meanwhile, there are many magazines which are a
comparatively low-cost way of getting good quality material to as many children as
possible. Sandouk El Donia, founded in Egypt in 1978, offers the Arab child a magazine
promoting national ideals and providing general knowledge. Majalati, established in Iraq
in 1969, is a general-interest magazine for 5 to 14-year-olds. The Syrian Ousama [Boys],
also founded in 1969, contains both fiction and information. Majed, a weekly periodical
published in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates for 6 to 16-year-olds since 1979, is
available in most Arab countries and aims to raise a generation of mature readers who
‘believe in God and a unified Arab world’.
The cooperative attitude which appears to prevail in Arab countries is a
great advantage, opening up a viable market for the publication of children’s literature.
THE ARAB WORLD 783