Culture & Education | Tuesday 22 November, 2016 9:44 am |

Mothers-to-be in Dubai who are expecting their first baby have received a selection of books under a joint initiative from Kalimat Group and the Ministry of Health and Prevention.

 

Titled ‘Kitabi Al Awal’ (My First Book), the activity saw bags of reading material distributed to a number of healthcare and medical centres across the city. Aimed at fostering good reading habits from an early age, the campaign was established to be in line with the UAE National Strategy for Reading 2016-2026.

 

Kitabi Al Awal’s book distribution at the Al Muhaisnah Medical Fitness Centre in Dubai last week was the second in the initiative after its first batch of bags was delivered to pregnant women attending medical centres in Sharjah. Overall, the scheme aims to distribute a total of 5,000 bags of books to expectant mothers in the UAE.

 

Dr. Hussein Abdul Rahman Al Rand, Assistant Undersecretary for Health Centres and Clinics at the Ministry of Health and Prevention said; “We are both proud and delighted to have organised such an exceptional initiative in cooperation with Kalimat Group, as it aligns with the UAE National Strategy for Reading which is aimed at instilling a love of reading in children at the earliest of ages. This campaign has been designed to connect mothers, babies and books and to inculcate reading as an important activity at the very start of family life.”

 

Tamer Said, Managing Director of Kalimat Group, said; “At Kalimat Group we are keen to foster reading as a noble habit in the Arab world in general and in the UAE in particular. We place a special priority on children, as they are the cornerstone of building a knowledge-based society. We were delighted to have collaborated with the Ministry of Health and Prevention to organise this initiative.”

 

On the books that are being distributed in the initiative, Tamer Said added; “We have carefully selected the reading material according to the highest educational criteria. We have also included a guide-book that contains tips for mothers on the importance of reading to their children as soon as they are born.”

 

Founded in 2007, Kalimat Group has grown rapidly to become one of the leading publishing houses in the Arab World. Dedicated to publishing Arabic children books and with a portfolio of innovative literary styles and quality texts, illustrations and designs, its publications have become extremely popular among children. Since its inception, Kalimat Group has published more than 200 quality Arabic e-books and printed titles. The organisation is the recipient of a number of international awards, including ‘New Horizons’ and the ‘Best Publisher of the Year – Asia 2016’ at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in Italy.

 

Kalimat Group is comprised of ‘Kalimat’, an award-winning publisher of Arabic children’s books that targets youngsters aged 12 years and under; ‘Rewayat,’ that focuses on producing books for adolescents and adults; ‘Horouf,’ specialised in creating contemporary and innovative educational books as well as smart applications and tools for children in Arabic; ‘Kalimat Quarto,’ the group’s imprint which specialises in publishing and distribution of illustrated Arabic books and ‘Maktaba,’ a literary and cultural café dedicated to children, with its first branch located at Al Qasba in Sharjah.