RIYADH: The Riyadh International Book Fair closes today. Like years past the fair has been marked by controversy involving the clash between conservative critics who were allowed to impose their segregation rules on the fairgoers and the bookworms who objected to these measures that obstructed readings, book signings and merchant-customer interactions.
But while book talk has once again had its limelight stolen by a larger social debate going on in the Kingdom over the mingling of sexes, dress codes and even the role of literature in Islam, one part of the event was praised by visitors: The children’s books section at the fair.
“We receive more than 100 children a day,” Iman Al-Khateeb, a member of the Children’s Committee in the Ministry of Culture and Information.
“Activities include making bookmarks that say ‘I love reading,’ making reading lists and displaying stories on a large screen accompanied by a volunteer reader. We organized discussion groups, and we had a child write his own short story,” said Al-Khateeb.
Young women volunteers manned the children’s reading sections of the fair.
Eman Khan, one of the volunteers, said she spent most of her time reading with children.
“We always look for opportunities to utilize our energy and apply our skills, and the book fair was the right place,” said Hawazen Al-Johani, another volunteer.
Nahed Al-Shawa, a Saudi children’s author, attended a reading and signed books brought to her by her tiny fans, which went off without a hitch.
(When Saudi author Halemah Mozzafar did the same thing earlier this week for her adult fans, a group of conservatives formed a human shield around her to prevent men from approaching her because she was not wearing a face veil.)
“Signing the book for a child make him know how important he is and gives children more dimension to the importance of their books,” said Al-Shawa. “The ministry understood that by the space it gave to us this year.”
