The competition was organized by Saudi publisher, Thuraya Batarji, who published the first Arabic children’s adventure book, “Moghamarat Bizarro Wa Qarasinat Al Ba7r” ("Bizarro’s Adventures and the Pirates of the Sea"). The book, which is written by Iyad Al-Khiari and Nadia il Shehri, was also launched during the competition.

"Our aim is to increase the reading popularity among children,” said Batarji. “We noticed a huge interest from children and their families to read the newly published book. We believe that children are interested in reading but they don’t get the opportunity to do so due to modern communication methods.”

Hind Al-Ahmari, a Saudi mother of three, who participated in the competition, applauded the event. "The competition comes as part of a new move to restore the reading habit. It is such events that encourage children to read again. My three children were preparing for this competition by reading many stories at home, then they were summarizing them to make sure they got all the information,” she said.

Families also welcomed the competition as it encouraged Arabic, Islamic and traditional habits. "The reading competition focused on traditional Islamic stories. These stories are very similar to the adventure stories that we were reading in the past. The only difference is that these stories are presented by Arabic characters with Islamic habits," said Um Jood, a mother of a five-year-old girl.

"My daughter is studying in a foreign school so she doesn’t know Arabic that well. By joining such competitions, she can boost her Arabic reading skills,” added Um Jood.

Nuha Abbas, a Lebanese mother of two children was also very optimistic with the first reading competition. "This competition reminds me of the competitions that we had in schools in Lebanon. Such competitions are very healthy for our children. I am planning to arrange a periodical workshop for my children to read books and discuss them with their friends and relatives. Such reading sessions are important for society, especially when our children have become very influenced with television and the Internet,” said Abbas.