Najla Al Owais and Fajer Bin Rashed here.
The College of Education held a month-long reading festival in 2023 in time for UAE’s reading month – March. During this festive month for book lovers, various events took place in our college such as writing and illustrating workshops; panel sessions with authors, illustrators and poets; author webinars and interviews; community outreach in the form of visiting patients in hospitals, schools and old homes (see here for Dr. Myra’s Gathering Books post about her read-aloud experience with terminally ill young children) – amongst many other events that were centered around the transformative power of reading and books.
One such memorable event took place in the House of Wisdom in Sharjah, an iconic cultural hub that houses a staggering 305,000 books, where a panel of avid young readers was given the space to talk about their experiences with reading, their aims and goals, as well as their publications at such a very young age. Please see here for our #UAEReads Library Feature this morning on House of Wisdom.
Fajer and I were honored to be the moderators of this panel, and it was such a joy hearing these young readers speak about their experiences with books and reading and their hopes for the future.
The panel included three young readers: Mezna Najeeb, Seilina Hamed and Ayaan Tariq.
Mezna Najeeb is a past Arab Reading Challenge champion and hosts a variety of television and radio shows and is the author of Arabic middle grade books named The Adventures of Moza & Maqbool, and The Adventures of Moza amongst other publications. She also spoke about a forthcoming book due to be published in the near future.
Seilina Hamed also participated in the Arab Reading Championship held in Dubai. She also won Sharjah’s Excellence awards in the student category.
Last but not least, Ayaan Tariq is an inspiring comic and graphic novel writer, who also had an initiative of building a library in his home in Al Ain for friends to borrow books from.
The young readers spoke about how they choose books to read. While young Ayaan likes to “judge a book by its cover” and is attracted to the art on the cover, especially if it’s a comic book, Mezna takes a different route in how she checks the writing style, as that helps her when making book choices. Seilina, on the other hand, does not take into consideration age targeted books but likes to check the cover, the front and black blurbs, and the beginning lines before making a choice about what to read.
It was also interesting to hear how they are influenced by their parents, and that in either situation where parents are readers or non-readers, children can grow up to love reading when their parents expose them to book fairs, exhibitions, libraries, and purchase books for them. The young readers spoke about a variety of influences on their lives, their aspirations and goals, and how books shape their lives in many ways. They also spoke about journalism where both Mezna and Seilina had the opportunity to don the reporter’s cap as part of the Arab Reading Challenge.
It was thrilling to hear the three young participants speak so fluently and eloquently about their passions. The audience were highly engaged with the speakers throughout the session. To further engage the audience, the panel discussion closed with a competition. The trivia questions included:
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- Who announced Emirati Children’s Day? Answer: Sheikha Fatima Bin Mubarak
- When was the first Emirati Children’s Day celebrated? Answer: 2018
- When was Sharjah named World Book Capital? Answer: 2019.
- When did House of Wisdom first open to the public? Answer: 2020
- What does the sculpture outside House of Wisdom represent? Answer: The scroll by British sculptor Gerry Judah.
- How many books does House of Wisdom feature?
a) Around 10,000 books
b) Less than 50,000 books
c) Answer: More than 100,000 books
Finally, we would like to wish all three speakers all the best moving forward with their passions.
The Arab Reading Challenge is part of the Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid global initiatives, where Sheikh Mohamed’s vision is “Instilling the love of reading in the hearts of young people is synonymous with instilling the foundations of progress and excellence in our countries.” Launched in 2015, it aims to develop Arabic literary skills in students both in the Arab region, as well as outside it. The challenge has four categories: The Excellent School Award, The Champions Award, Distinguished Supervisor Award, and Community Champions Awards. You can learn more about the Arab Reading Challenge from their website.
About the Guest Contributors for #UAEReads:
Najla Al Owais is a PhD candidate studying Math Education at UAEU. She has previously worked as a middle school mathematics teacher, and a freelance translator and interpreter. She is passionate about teaching mathematics, and is an avid reader, and loves finding the intersection between both mathematics and reading. She has a Bachelor’s of Science from Zayed University in Math Education and Masters of Arts from the American University of Sharjah in English-Arabic-English Translating and Interpreting. Wherever she goes, books find her. She hopes to one day publish her own book.
Fajer M. Bin Rashed is an avid reader and listener of books. One of the earliest
childhood memories she has is of going to a bookstore with her mother and siblings in Kuwait. Fajer has a 13-year experience teaching English as a second language at the tertiary level in Kuwait. Her previous teaching posts include Australian University (formerly known as Australian College of Kuwait), Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST), Arab Open University (AOU), and The Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET). She has a bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature and a master’s degree in Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies from Kuwait University and currently serves as a PhD candidate at United Arab Emirates University, specialized in Language and Literacy Studies. She is a published researcher and is an active reviewer for a multi- and interdisciplinary peer-reviewed journal based on her expertise. Her current research inquiries are centered around (early) literacy education, language acquisition, language teacher and learner identity, bilingualism, multiculturalism, and social-emotional learning (SEL) in education.
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
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 
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