Sharjah International Children's Reading Festival

 The Children's Reading Festival was a very large event sponsored by the Sheikh of Sharjah to benefit children and families of  the UAE.  Many international authors were invited.  The fair had several workshops for children that were held simultaneously.

I enjoyed seeing all the school children who came.  The event was free and available to families to visit, as well.

Many books were available for purchase, including a few of mine.

I loved the humor of this couple (and faux baby) who walked around escorted by a few people, and fun music announcing their arrival.

Many activities like art, cooking demonstrations, and science projects were taking place throughout the halls.

The author's lounge entrance is in the background.

Annie and I got a picture in the Author's Lounge with Maimuna, who helped coordinate all our events.

I did a couple interviews in the lounge.  One was with an international journalist; the other was for local broadcasting.

 

It was a very large and busy event that brought in several busloads of children as well as many international visitors.  It had a lofty goal of  encouraging children of the UAE to develop a love of learning, and I think it was very successful. :)

Sharjah American International School-Dubai

 As part of my itinerary as a guest of the Sharjah International Children's Book Fair, arrangements were made for me to visit two schools in Dubai.

The first was on Monday morning. Because of traffic, the drive from Sharjah took an hour, instead of 15-20 minutes.  I was assigned a great driver and a young woman named Nada to accompany me.

The Sharjah American International School-Dubai is a private school situated in a large, beautiful building. The children ride yellow school buses, with printing in both English and Arabic.

Our driver waited for us.  Nada talked to the guard at the gate, who was expecting us, and gave us ID guest ribbons to wear. 

We were greeted by the librarian and two high school students who took us in the elevator to the library where several second and third-grade children eagerly waited for us, along with their teachers.

They had prepared pictures of me and my books on their back wall, and some of my book pages were projected on a screen.  I also asked my high school friend to turn pages for me as I read and discussed it with the children.

The children were very well-mannered and responsive, and it was so fun to share my books with them.

I was told that most are local Arabic children, but many moved to Dubai from other countries.  They were all studying an American curriculum. So, even though I have four of my books translated into Arabic, I read the English versions as these children all know English well (and I don't know Arabic!)

It's always a treat to meet with children, 

to share a message of hope and encouragement,

 and to hear their thoughts and wisdom.

The principal of the school then thanked me for my visit.  He presented me with a certificate and a gift that they present to their visitors.

I learned that the glass sculpture I received had a picture of the esteemed 

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, and Prime Minister of the UAE. 

The three fingers represent three letters: W for Winning, V for Victory, and L for Love.   Each of these tenets is an important principle to the people of the UAE.

I felt honored to have been selected to be their guest.

Desert Safari in the UAE

The most exciting excursion offered to authors and guests of the Fair was our trip to the desert on Wednesday.

We all boarded a hired double-decker bus at about 4:00 pm.  

We drove out of town,

and into the desert.

We stopped at an archeological site in Mleiha.  Two thousand years ago there was a fort here, iron-making foundries, and houses in a mile-wide area, with weapons and coins found from the Bronze and Iron Ages.

Unfortunately, there wasn't time to see the museum planned--just a quick stop where we transferred to cars.

We learned that this desert was all underwater at one point, as evidenced by fossils found in the rocks.

We saw one lone beautiful bush, and one lizard when we got out for pictures.

This was not an ordinary car ride through the desert.  The sand was our road, and the drivers wanted to make this a dune-busting adventure.  It was pretty intense!

Then we drove to our camp.

And we rode a camel!  The camel was on its knees for us to get on.  The surprise was the jolt as the camel stood up. :) 

We sat at low tables on cushions on the sand and were treated to a feast.

 

It was a memorable evening to chat and relax with other guests who had come from different parts of the world to share this adventure.