JEDDAH, 22 May 2008 — Ten Saudi working mothers and housewives who believe in the importance of reading for children started a push to promote this culture in Saudi society. The effort includes a website and outdoor advertising campaign.
“This is the first Arabic website specialized in promoting reading for the children,” said Hana Hassanain, the founder of Al-Zumar. “We are in the trial period now. Our vision is to make reading a guide for life that contributes to the advancement of society.”
In June, the group will also open a public library and book club for children and mothers supplied with Arabic and English books.
Currently the Jeddah streets are full of outdoor advertisements that hold the slogan “Read earlier so that your children grows distinctive,” and mention the group’s website: http://alzumar.com. The advertising campaign kicked off on April 23, the World Book Day.
The idea of promoting the reading culture among mothers is the brainchild of Hassanain. She said the website is a community service. “As we read for our children and find them distinct, we want other mothers to benefit from the initiative and spread it in society,” she said.
Jim Trelease, an American author and children’s book illustrator, inspired Hassanain. Trelease visited dozens of children schools in the United States over a number of years and says on his online bio that he was surprised that they do not read much.
He then decided to write a book entitled “The Read-Aloud Handbook” so that parents would be encouraged to read to their children in an early age, because he learned that children who were introduced to reading early by hearing the text were more likely to be avid readers later on.
“This is where the dream began,” Hassanain said. “The dream of initiating a project to raise the awareness of the importance of reading for children.”
Hassanain said that in 2004 a saying by Egyptian imam Amr Khaled also inspired her; he said that as long as the person has an idea in his head and is persistent toward it he could turn in into reality.
“That is when I started working on starting the project with the 10 partners,” she said.
The group caters to children from zero to six years old. Hassanain said that there should be a library in every school and in every classroom. She said it is very important for students to be surrounded by books.
Founders of the group are: Hana Hassanian, Dalia Tounsi, Arwa Khumais, Diana Edrees, Thurayya Batterji, Haifa Hassanain, Arwa Julaidan, Rabia Al-Fadhl, Nada Hassanain and Weam Hassanain.
Mothers of children can become “Friends of Al-Zumar.”
Special features about this membership include receiving publications from the group, a 15 percent discount on workshops and meetings in Jeddah, alerts on the latest children’s books and communicating on problems members face while trying to enhance the love of reading in their children.
“Children who were read to daily are recognized as fast learners by their teachers. They have better learning skills, communication skills up to six times more than others. They are more familiar with the letters and words,” she said.
