Sharjah Children's Reading Festival offers books for babies

Young ones are introduced to reading through books that feature black and white images

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Published: Sat 21 May 2022, 4:17 PM

Two white baby ducks surrounded by darkness waddle towards its black-hued mother duck standing in daylight – these are not real ducks but pages from a board book that introduces new-born babies to colours at the Sharjah Children's Reading Festival (SCRF).

Even parents are being educated along with their young ones. They are being advised to start to inculcate reading habits in their babies with black and white images which help their eyes adjust to the big wide world of colours.


With this in mind, Roya Books from Istanbul, Turkey has come up with a set of Arabic books for babies in the 0-6 months and 0-24 months age group.

While the former is only black and white – aptly titled Abyad wa Aswad – the latter introduces red, signalling the widening of their horizons.


According to the publishers, the book Abyad wa Aswad, which is being sold for Dh40, is for newborns whose vision is cloudy in the first few months of life. High-contrast black and white images strengthen their vision and increases their capacity to focus. It is recommended that the book is shown to newborns from a distance of 25-30 cm.”

The 0-24 month set has four books – Kabeer wa Sagheer, Ashkal, Rawabet and Etbaa Al Khat. If the first one introduces the child to sizes big and small – like the huge whale and a baby whale perched on its snout, the second book introduces them to shapes – triangles, circles, stars, etc.

The third one shows ties – like a bee to a flower and a cup to a teapot; the fourth invites children to follow the line, for instance, a zig zag line from a watering can to a cactus. These books are available for Dh 30 each.

The Sharjah Children's Reading Festival 2022 is running at Expo Centre Sharjah until May 22.


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