Silent books stimulate kids’ creativity, story-telling skills
abu dhabi — A curated Silent Book Exhibition displaying 50 titles has been catching attention during the 29th edition of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (ADIBF 2019) that will end today. The exhibition, organised by the UAE Board on Books for Young People (UAEBBY) in collaboration with the Sharjah World Book Capital Office (SWBCO), hopes to stimulate children’s imagination, encouraging them to write their own stories.
Hugo Setzer, president of the International Publishers Association (IPA), and Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi, vice-president of the IPA, visited the exhibition, which featured seven silent books written by UAEbased authors.
By bringing this exhibition to ADIBF 2019, UAEBBY seeks to shed light on how these illustration-only books have helped the unprecedented wave of refugees across the world cope with their struggles. It also aims to stimulate local efforts to support more original literary creations in the silent books genre, thereby, promoting the UAE’s strategy to develop the nation’s cultural landscape.
Marwa Al Aqroubi, president of UAEBBY and project manager of Sharjah World Book Capital 2019, said: “Our participation in ADIBF seeks to support the silent books industry in the UAE, encourage the exchange of knowledge and develop the capabilities of silent book illustrators, authors and publishers. Children’s imagination and engagement with the illustrations featured in the silent books defies the rules of conventional reading and adds new dimensions to the story that go beyond words. UAEBBY has been focusing on supporting silent books because of their literary and human values that transcend the barriers of language and depends on the power of pictures that are rich with visual language to tell the stories.”