Children's and YA Author and Critic
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, but will definitely be back again this weekend!
Pictures below!
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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 more through IBBY Egypt!
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 sat down on the bean bags to relisten to me reading one of my older stories. It was a great day!
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 love until today is But No Elephants by Jerry Smath.
Listen to my live interview here or read some of my answers below:
You can listen to me here:
http://dubaieye1038.com/podcast/story-corner-with-dina-elabd/
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. Where can I find good Arabic books that will actually make my child WANT to read in Arabic?”
Arabic Book A Month was made to precisely respond to this problem. Our customers are the men and women who invest in their families. They believe that providing their child with a quality education is the best gift they can give them. They value the time spent reading together, sparking discussion and connection. Their family is their highest priority. Caring for their child is not circumstantial; it is routine.
With hundreds of Arabic releases every month, we handpick the best books, guaranteeing you a steady flow of lovable Arabic books for your family to enjoy. I am very excited to start this book subscription services for Arabic speaking parents worldwide.
Join our mailing list on www.arabicbookamonth.com to be the first to know of all the details during our pre-launch phase now.
This year, I was so excited to attend the IBBY 2018 Congress in Athens, Greece. It is really a pleasure to be able to sit in a room surrounded with children’s book authors, illustrators, publishers, librarians, and lovers of all kinds. The amount of research done and shared in the short weekend conference is just outstanding.
I’d like to thank Vassiliki Nika, President of IBBY Greece, and the entire team that worked very hard to make such a good conference. And of course, to invite us all to beautiful Greece!
http://www.ibbycongressathens2018.com/
Pictures below:
The awards ceremony!
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The enchanting ancient Greek poetry!
Yesterday, I was very happy to be able to attend a British Petroleum BP event marking their support of education in Egypt. Until today, BP has helped fund 100 Egyptian scholars attend Cambridge university!
As one of these scholars, I can not say how lucky I still feel. The Minister of Higher Education and the Minister of Petroleum also attended and spoke at this event, promising to increase the number of scholarships.
Good luck to all!
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Get excited! My first picturebook “Mila the Beautiful Cat” or “ميلا القطة الجميلة ” is coming soon! And it will be published by the famous and award winning Lebanese publishing house, Asala! What does a little girl and her local cat have in common? A love for ice cream! So when the ice cream shop closes, and the little girl’s family has no choice but to adopt Mila, what happens? Can the family learn to love this very naughty cat and welcome her into their home?
More details to follow…
