KALIMAT LAUNCHES FIRST ‘SILENT BOOK’

A publishing house in Sharjah has launched its first silent book at the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF).

Kalimat, which specialises in publishing books for children and young adults, marked its first foray into the silent book market with its release of Al Hawa — a unique story that expresses the idea of love in terms of forgetting, and feeling love all over again.

Silent books tell stories not through words but by vivid illustrations: not a single word is printed on its pages. Through this format, a book can be passed from one person to another across the world, transcending language barriers. People can read the same book and some may understand it differently.

Kalimat’s Al Hawa, illustrated by Fransisca Del Orto, embodies the idea of being “consumed with life’s worries and troubles, and not being able to live one’s dreams”. However, a determination to succeed saves the love story. Al Hawa was released at the festival along with five other titles written by prominent Arabic and International authors.

Among the new books were Hanada Taha’s My Crazy Socks, a story of colorful and funnyshaped socks, and Mariam Al Jamal’s Fushtakato, which tells the story of a girl who is bored and insecure because everyone around her is busy with her newborn sister. Another one on the list was an educational, entertaining board book targeting toddlers named The Big Blue

Sea. Written by Shame’ Khan, it introduces readers to various species of marine animals in the Arabian Gulf.

For young adult readers, Fire Storm is the last of Lauren St John’s One Dollar Horse Series.

It is a story of a rising star Casey Blue, who has it all, including fame and her champion horse Storm.

Operation Rhino is the last book on John’s White Giraffe series, which is about the poachers who attacked Sawubona’s white rhinos.