• The fair has carved a strong reputation locally and internationally

Fatima Muhammad

JEDDAH: Children’s books have dominated the landscape of the fifth Jeddah Book Fair.

Rand Saber, a children’s author, told Arab News the genre had seen huge development and evolution in terms of plots and characters around the world.

Children’s books in the Kingdom, though, need more support to compete with international titles in terms of quality. She called upon the public and private sectors to support the spread and availability of children’s books at schools and elsewhere.

Saber worked for few years at the Kadi and Ramadi Publishing House, which specializes in children’s books, and gained an enriching experience from the owner Thuraya Batterji.

“I’ve written several stories and got lucky with my tale ‘A Hero’s Hat’ which was published in 2016. The story talks about soldiers defending our country. After that, I worked with Kadi and Ramadi Publishing and the Child Protection Foundation, and published a series of stories on how to protect children from being abused. I also published another series on educating little girls and a book called ‘Two Closest Friends,’” she told Arab News.

Rand’s story “An Idea to Change the World” came third in the Abdulhameed Shawman Foundation competition in 2018 in Jordan.

The Jeddah Book Fair is staged at a 30,000-square-meter site attracting 400 publishing houses from 40 different countries. The number of visitors has reached 269,135.

The fair will continue for 10 days, with over 50 cultural activities, including art exhibitions, photography, Arabic calligraphy displays, workshops, seminars, plays and documentary screenings.

It features 350,000 books, catering for all reader tastes, and more than 200 authors will also attend to sign their work over its course.

The fair has carved a strong reputation locally and internationally and has enriched knowledge and culture as one of the mega fairs in the Arab world.

Rand said it had brought joy to all visitors who continue to discover its different segments and sections catering to different tastes and ages.