"Etisalat Award for Children’s Book" Participation is open in its sixteenth edition

Sharjah, 4 May / WAM / The Etisalat Children’s Book Award, which is supervised by the UAE Board on Books for Young People and sponsored by E&Emirates, announced that participation in its 16th edition has been opened to innovators working in the children’s and young adult’s book industry from various countries around the world.

The announcement came in conjunction with the award’s participation in the activities of the 15th session of the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival 2024, which is currently being held at the Sharjah Expo Center and continues until May 12.

The award is divided into five categories: They are: “Early Childhood,” “The Picture Book,” “A Book with Chapters,” “The Book of Young People,” and “The Book of Poetry.”

Marwa Al Aqroubi, Executive Director of the House of Wisdom in Sharjah, and President of the Emirates Council for Young People’s Literature, said that the award, in its 16th edition, is looking forward to a new phase of growth and expansion, by attracting a greater number of distinguished entries that include more diverse publications in terms of topics, so that they keep pace with the development of… It raises the Arab child’s awareness and expands his interests, and at the same time works to increase the interest of children and adolescents in reading and their attachment to books, which requires greater attention to the quality of ideas and texts, as well as the drawings and pictures included in the books competing to win the award.

She indicated that the award will continue to provide possible support and care to those working in the Arab children’s book industry, including authors, illustrators, and publishers, and will work to develop their talents, develop their abilities, and provide them with appropriate training to enhance the quality of their publications and enable them to enrich the Arab children’s library with the best books, while ensuring that they are consistent with the highest international standards in this field. The field to be competitive and worthy of translation into various languages of the world.

For his part, His Excellency Abdul Aziz Taryam, Advisor to the CEO and General Manager of E&Emirates in the Northern Regions, said: “We are pleased with our continued sponsorship of the Etisalat Children’s Book Award, which over the past 15 years has had a remarkable impact and clear presence in Arab children’s literature and has been a contributor to To supply the Arab Library with hundreds of publications of varying form and content, in the production of which hundreds of Arab authors, illustrators and publishers participated, in whom the award played a role in developing their capabilities and provided care and support to them.

He added that “E&Emirates” has played a major role over nearly five decades in building bridges of communication between people, and “we are proud of our participation in the efforts of the UAE Council on Books for Young People in order to achieve greater rapprochement between children and books through this award, which has had a great role in… Increasing children’s interest in reading and learning more about different cultures and civilizations through the expressive texts and beautiful drawings that have adorned the pages of the award-winning books over the past editions.”

The “Early Childhood” category targets children’s books from birth to five years, and the publisher can offer a maximum of five books in this category, while the “Young Adult” category (13-18 years) targets novel, non-fiction, and fantasy books directed at young people, and the publisher can offer an unlimited number. Among the books there is a condition that they are distinctive, new or modified, and the books must contain a story, dialogue, an attractive plot, and well-developed characters.

Participants in the “Picture Book” category (5-9 years) can submit a maximum of five books, while in the “Chapter Book” category (9-12 years), which aims to tell the story through prose rather than pictures, participants can submit a number Unlimited books provided that they are distinctive, new or modified.

The “Poetry” category (up to 18 years) targets poetry books intended for children and young people and can cover a wide range of topics from nature and animals to friendship, family, etc. Publishers may submit any number of books they wish to this category, provided that each book carries the factors of creativity and originality. Attractiveness and having a high level of poetic skill in terms of meter and meaning.

The total value of the “Etisalat Children’s Book Award” is 1.2 million dirhams. 180,000 dirhams were allocated for each of the five categories, divided equally between the author, illustrator, and publisher, with 60,000 dirhams for each winner, with the exception of the young people’s category, whose financial prize is shared only by the author and publisher, at 90,000 dirhams each, in addition to 300,000 dirhams that the award allocated to the workshop program. Work that aims to discover and nurture new Arab talents in the field of children’s and youth books and develop their creative abilities to provide books that are consistent with the local Arab cultural identity and in line with the highest international standards.

The award called on makers of books for children and young people in the Arabic language, including authors, publishers, and illustrators from all over the world, to submit their entries until August 31, by sending photocopies of the nominated books to the e-mail address of the UAE Board on Books for Young People (info@uaebby.org.ae), with the letter The name of the applicant, noting that the nominated books must be original works in the Arabic language, published in paper, not violating intellectual property or publishing rights, and must not have won another award or been published more than five years ago.

The award does not include publications in the form of book series, educational, scientific, or school books, electronic or audiobooks, or manuscripts. Likewise, collections of short stories, articles, or CVs are not accepted.

Entries must be submitted from an officially registered publishing house. It is not permitted to re-submit previous books. The jury reserves the right to withhold the award or exclude any work that does not comply with the conditions, and its decisions may not be appealed.

The winners of the 16th session will be announced and honored during the next session of the Sharjah International Book Fair 2024.