Category Archives: News

This May is already the 9th birthday of Balsam Bookstore, the only specialized Arabic children’s bookstore in Egypt. Egyptians can’t thank Balsam enough for the effort she puts into providing excellent Arabic books for children. It was a day full of storytelling and fun! Happy Birthday! Photos below:

This March, I was really happy to be invited to read my new book Mila the Beautiful Cat/ ميلا القطة الجميلة at the Emirates International Literature Festival, also known as the Dubai Literature Festival! It was an incredibly well attended and well organized event, with international authors form across the Middle East and beyond. Also,ContinueContinue reading “Reading at the Dubai Literature Festival!”

This year, the location of the Cairo International Book Fair was changed from Nasr City to New Cairo. To put it simply, it is a HUGE improvement. I was very impressed with how organized and timely everything was, and how large the collection was. I spent two hours wandering around the fair buying books, butContinueContinue reading “Picking books at the Cairo International Book Fair 2019”

Yesterday, I visited the American University in Cairo to attend a Storytelling Workshop organized by the University of Glasgow presented by Julie Adams. It was really interesting to hear about different book projects happening in Mexico, Egypt, and Lebanon. Thank you Julie, Dina, Aly, and all others present! Looking forward to working with them moreContinueContinue reading “AUC/University of Glasgow Storytelling Workshop”

On January 25th, I was thrilled to find a large article about my recent project Arabic Book A Month on the back cover of Al Masry Al Youm, one of the largest and most important newspapers in Egypt. You can find the article online here. Or below:

I was very honored to be nominated as one of the “Women of Egypt”! They wrote: Dina Elabd, founded Arabic Book A Month; which as the name suggests, is a monthly Arabic books subscription package. Books are sent to subscribers in America, to introduce and teach their children the Arabic language. Read more: goo.gl/HkWTje And here on Facebook!

This December 11th, I was very happy to be invited to my school for a second time to read at the CAC Book Fair 2018. As usual, there was a beautiful set up and Christmas decorations, giving everyone there a very merry vibe. Many of the students remembered me from last year, and even satContinueContinue reading “Reading at the CAC Book Fair 2018”

Yesterday, I had the great opportunity to discuss children’s books on the Dubai Eye Radio Channel in the UAE. Annabelle and Evelyn, the co-hosts, and I talked about what makes a good children’s book, whether parents would agree, what are picture books, and what were my personal favorites growing up? One book that I loveContinueContinue reading “Discussing children’s books on Dubai Eye”

What should I buy? Ever since my friends and family became aware of my consistent passion for quality children’s books, I have always been asked the same questions: “What books should I buy for my child/cousin/niece/nephew? Where do I find them? Are they good? I feel like Arabic children’s books are weaker than English ones.ContinueContinue reading “Launching Arabic Book A Month!”