A pet lion, an injured horse and a lost baby gazelle are among the characters featured in the new children’s book penned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai.
Entitled My Little World, the book is a collection of five illustrated short stories that are based on the early life experiences of the Dubai ruler. The book, which is available in English and Arabic, was launched last month and had its release celebrated at the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature on Friday, February 5.
The stories in My Little World all feature a young Sheikh Mohammed as the protagonist as he overcomes a series of challenges that help him glean valuable life lessons.
One story in the collection, titled My Friend, the Lion tells of how Sheikh Mohammed wakes up in his room one day to find the friendly farm lion standing over him. Wanting to go back to sleep, the young sheikh shows the lion the door and the window but the lion only makes itself more comfortable by his side. After a number of unsuccessful attempts at trying to get the lion out of the room, Sheikh Mohammed realises that the friendly beast is following his every move.
“I move right, he moves right,” Sheikh Mohammed writes. “I step back, he steps back. Where I want him to go, I must go first.”
The young sheikh then jumps out of his bedroom window and, sure enough, the lion leapt after him. In the time it took the lion to circle back around, Sheikh Mohammed jumps back into the room through the window and slammed it shut.
“When solving a problem and it feels like a test, the simplest solution could be the best,” Sheikh Mohammed writes.
Another story in the collection My Mother, Like No Other recounts how as a child, Sheikh Mohammed would go out into the desert with his Bedouin mentor Humaid, camping with him and his family for several nights.
“I liked spending my free time watching the wildlife,” he writes. “One day I saw a baby gazelle that was all alone.”
Sheikh Mohammed adds that he remembers learning how gazelles often left their newborns alone during the day before returning to check up on them and keep them safe from bigger animals.
“I sat watching in the distance because I didn’t want to disturb the little gazelle, keeping an eye on it to make sure it was safe,” he writes.
It was nearly sundown and the gazelle’s mother had still not returned. “Where did she go? Why didn’t she come back?” Sheikh Mohammed writes.
The young sheikh carefully walked up to the baby gazelle and scooped it up in his arms, keeping it close. “That’s when an idea popped into my head,” he writes. “This baby needed a mother to take care of it. But who could replace someone so special?”
In that moment, the young sheikh begins to think of his own mother, about how kind and caring she is. “I remembered she cares for baby gazelles, just like this one,” he writes. “Her little herd followed her everywhere. They adored her. And she loved them too.”
As Sheikh Mohammed prepared to return home, he decided to take the gazelle with him as a “gift for someone special.”
“I had been in the desert for a few nights and really missed my mother,” she says. “I jumped out of the car to greet her as I handed her the baby gazelle her face lit up with joy. She was so happy.”
Watching her, the young Sheikh Mohammed realised that bringing happiness to the people you love is also a “brilliant way to bring happiness to yourself.”
“Sure enough, the baby gazelle followed my mother everywhere, she cared for it until it was older and stronger and could look after itself. My mother really is one of a kind,” Sheikh Mohammed concludes. “There really is no one like her.”
My Little World is available across bookstores in the UAE
Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
Test series fixtures
(All matches start at 2pm UAE)
1st Test Lord's, London from Thursday to Monday
2nd Test Nottingham from July 14-18
3rd Test The Oval, London from July 27-31
4th Test Manchester from August 4-8
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre, twin-turbocharged V8
Transmission: nine-speed automatic
Power: 630bhp
Torque: 900Nm
Price: Dh810,000
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
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Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
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Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
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What is the definition of an SME?
SMEs in the UAE are defined by the number of employees, annual turnover and sector. For example, a “small company” in the services industry has six to 50 employees with a turnover of more than Dh2 million up to Dh20m, while in the manufacturing industry the requirements are 10 to 100 employees with a turnover of more than Dh3m up to Dh50m, according to Dubai SME, an agency of the Department of Economic Development.
A “medium-sized company” can either have staff of 51 to 200 employees or 101 to 250 employees, and a turnover less than or equal to Dh200m or Dh250m, again depending on whether the business is in the trading, manufacturing or services sectors.
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
RESULT
Huddersfield Town 1 Manchester City 2
Huddersfield: Otamendi (45' 1 og), van La Parra (red card 90' 6)
Man City: Agüero (47' pen), Sterling (84')
Man of the match: Christopher Schindler (Huddersfield Town)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
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Opening weekend Premier League fixtures
Weekend of August 10-13
Arsenal v Manchester City
Bournemouth v Cardiff City
Fulham v Crystal Palace
Huddersfield Town v Chelsea
Liverpool v West Ham United
Manchester United v Leicester City
Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur
Southampton v Burnley
Watford v Brighton & Hove Albion
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Everton
The schedule
December 5 - 23: Shooting competition, Al Dhafra Shooting Club
December 9 - 24: Handicrafts competition, from 4pm until 10pm, Heritage Souq
December 11 - 20: Dates competition, from 4pm
December 12 - 20: Sour milk competition
December 13: Falcon beauty competition
December 14 and 20: Saluki races
December 15: Arabian horse races, from 4pm
December 16 - 19: Falconry competition
December 18: Camel milk competition, from 7.30 - 9.30 am
December 20 and 21: Sheep beauty competition, from 10am
December 22: The best herd of 30 camels
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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Turkish Ladies
Various artists, Sony Music Turkey
