Myra Garces-Bacsal here.

Around the same time last year, I served as Co-Convenor for a month-long reading festival organized under the College of Education in my university, in time for UAE’s Reading Month (March). The theme of the festival was “Teachers and Leaders as Lifelong Readers.”

If you feel that the cover of our Festival Booklet is somewhat familiar, then you are right. We were very privileged to have Shaun Tan, recipient of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (among other awards), as one of our distinguished speakers last year; and he was generous enough to allow us the use of his art for our publicity materials.

During the launch of the CEDU Reading Festival last year, my co-Convenor and I (Dr. Mona Aljanahi who was serving at the time as the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, and presently serving as the Vice Dean of the College) were very honored to have a conversation with Her Excellency (HE) Isobel Abulhoul.

Apart from serving as the former CEO and Trustee of Emirates Literature Foundation, Founder of Magrudy’s (the longest-running book store in the country) and the internationally renowned Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, HE Isobel Abulhoul is also an Officer of the Order of the British Empire and was named Cultural Personality of the Year by His Highness (HH) Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi, the Ruler of Sharjah; and is an award recipient from HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum for her contribution to the Year of Reading in the UAE. Isobel is also the Founder of Al Ittihad Private School in 1975 and started a reading and teaching scheme in Arabic, called Bustan Al Qusas, which empowered teachers to write and use their own stories. HE Isobel Abulhoul is currently heading a 5-year project on Reading for Pleasure which she also talked about during our interview with her.

Here are some of the books mentioned during our bookish conversation:

HE Isobel’s Childhood Favourites:

Heidi by Johanna Spyri

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

HE Isobel’s Recommended Children’s Book:

Aisha’s Pearl by Julia Johnson and illustrated by Maitha Al Khayat

Some of the Early Guest Authors of the Emirates Airline Festival Of Literature (and their books):

Frank McCourt, Terry Brooks, Anthony Horowitz – a total of 65 authors came during the very first Emirates Airline Festival of Literature in Dubai.

Recommended Books to know more about the region and the UAE:

Arabian Sands by Wilfred Thesiger

Mother without a Mask by Patricia Holton

UAE 101 Stories & Cultural Learnings by Roudha Al Marri and Ilaria Caielli and illustrated by Reem Al Marri

Here is our full interview with one of the literary / reading icons in the United Arab Emirates, the unparalleled HE Isobel Abulhoul. Enjoy!

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About the Guest Editor/Curator for March 2024 [#UAEReads]:

Myra Garces-Bacsal has served as a teacher educator for 15 years and has led several research projects on reading and social emotional learning, diverse picturebooks and teacher practices, psychology of high creatives and exceptional people, culturally responsive and inclusive education. She is a quintessential lover and creator of booklists (see her Social and Emotional Learning bookshelf here and other publications below). Myra serves as the Assistant Dean for Research and Graduate Studies with the College of Education, UAE University. She is a self-proclaimed nerd who lives and breathes books and enjoys organizing events and festivals where fellow nerds converge and attempt to joyfully change the world.

Publications on booklists:

Garces-Bacsal, R. M., Alhosani, N. M., Elhoweris, H., Tupas, R. (2023). A diverse social and emotional learning booklist for gifted learners and advanced readers. Roeper Review, 45(1), 25-36. https://doi.org/10.1080/02783193.2022.2145397

Garces-Bacsal, R. M., Alhosani, N. M., Elhoweris, H., Al Ghufli, H. T., AlOwais, N. M., Baja, E. S., & Tupas, R. (2022). Using diverse picturebooks for inclusive practices and transformative pedagogies. In M. Efstratopoulou (Ed.), Rethinking Inclusion and Transformation in Special Education (pp. 72-92). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-6684-4680-5.ch005

Garces-Bacsal, R. M. (2021). Of grit and gumption, sass and verve: What gifted students can learn from multicultural picture book biographies. In S. R. Smith’s Handbook of giftedness and talent development in Australasian Pacific (pp. 431-453). Singapore: Springer International Handbooks of Education. https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-981-13-3041-4_18 

Garces-Bacsal, R. M. (2020). Diverse books for diverse children: Building an early childhood diverse booklist for social and emotional learning. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 22(1), 66-95. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798420901856