The 14th annual Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF) is ongoing in the Emirate and will be coming to a close on 14 May, 2023. This children’s reading festival is the region’s largest of its kind dedicated to stimulate creativity in young minds and bring them closer to books. The theme for this edition of the reading festival is “Train your brain”. The festival is hosting 1,732 events celebrating the said theme. These events are led by 457 authors, artists, publishers, illustrators, and experts from 66 countries. Around 141 Arab and international publishers are exhibiting this year.
The Emirate’s Ministry of Education, the House of Wisdom, the Sharjah Private Education Authority and the Department of Social Services, in addition to the institutions of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs and the UAE Board on Books for Young People have set up their pavilions at the event.
The 12 days children’s 
extravaganza is aimed at supporting Sharjah’s efforts to provide a comprehensive reading and creative environment that focuses on educating and refining the talents of children and youth. It also targets families with diverse activities to partner in motivating their children to read and use books to learn, build values, and preserve their authentic identity.
SCRF is providing children and families with an opportunity to pick up the latest titles in children’s literature from 93 Arab and 48 foreign publishers offering their latest works during the festival. Top participating countries in this edition include the UK, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the US, Australia, India, Pakistan, Algeria, and Iraq.
The highly anticipated festival has been home to 946 events and 136 theatrical shows and performances, including a diverse range of workshops for children covering arts, sports, science, and technology. The festival has been hosting 136 theatre performances, roaming shows, acrobat and music concerts led by 16 artists.
The festival consists of a “Comics Corner” which is home to 323 activities, including workshops, panel discussions, and a series of roaming shows led by 15 creatives from 4 countries, before exploring the Sharjah Children’s Book Illustration Exhibition that brings together hundreds of illustrators from around the world.
Celebrated author, educator and philanthropist Sudha Murty’s session titled ‘Tales of Grandma’ was well received at the festival. It left a live audience of 1,000+ individuals of all age groups at the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF) captivated and craving for more just as her books do even at the age of 72. Ms Murty’s advice to the young audience is to develop hobbies. “It can be anything, even one is fine if you pursue it in all earnest without letting your studies get affected. In fact, the hobby will help you focus on your studies, while also helping you become a better person.”
Ms Murty then visited the House of Wisdom (HoW), Sharjah’s iconic cultural centre and futuristic library, where she was introduced to the emirate’s efforts to promote culture, knowledge and innovation amongst the younger generation in the UAE and beyond. Ms Murty stopped at the Little Reader section, where she was briefed on the events and workshops that are designed exclusively for children in order to develop their skills in a variety of areas. She also reviewed the wide-ranging collection of children and young adult titles in English, Arabic and other languages.
The globally acclaimed Masaka Kids Africana group of Ugandan children aged 2 and above who boast a following of 3.45 million subscribers on YouTube, 7.8 million followers on Instagram, and 5.5 million followers on TikTok, are bringing their soulful tunes and dance moves to inspire audiences of all age groups at the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF 2023). The multi-talented kids of Masaka Kids Africana who live the motto ‘Dance, Rise & Shine’ have a heart-warming story to tell, that is a touching example of how crisis can be turned into opportunity with grit, determination and creativity.
