ABU DHABI // Two Abu Dhabi schools are hundreds of books better off, thanks to a pair of studious siblings.
Bookworms Khadija Al Khouri, 6, and her brother Abdullah, 4, each won 200 titles for their schools after taking part in the Arabic Primary category of the #UAEReads Challenge.
“We always wanted our children to love books instead of making them addicted to technology,” said their father Sultan, who works for a government company. “The competition has helped us a lot in bringing our children closer to books.
“Now they not only want to win more and more books but also want to read them as quickly as possible.”
Mr Al Khouri said his wife first drew his attention to the competition, suggesting their children should be involved.
Khadija, who goes to Al Bashair Private school in Mussaffah, loves to read fairy tales and her favourite character is Little Red Riding Hood, Mr Al Khouri said.
Abdullah, who attends Creative Kids Academy in Abu Dhabi Gate City, is passionate about dinosaurs and science fiction.
Mr Al Khouri said the extra reading had also improved the children’s Arabic skills.
“Along with other benefits of reading we have seen an improvement in Arabic language among our children,” he said.
“Books, especially storybooks, can be a great source to improve linguistic skills among children.”
As part of the #UAEReads Challenge, The National and publisher Scholastic are is committed to giving away more than 40,000 books.
Teachers have praised the challenge as helping to stir a healthy interest in books among pupils. “As a teacher I have found a remarkable improvement among children’s performance after gaining an interest in reading,” said Yasmin Mana, Khadija’s teacher. “Not just their critical and creative thinking have improved, but also the language.”
Ms Mana pupils now share books with each other. “I used to believe it was impossible to take away their iPads from these young kids but I am so glad that I was proved wrong. I can now see books in these little hands instead of smart devices.”
Each week, as part of the #UAEReads Challenge, three winners are selected at random to receive books for their school.
This year has been declared the year of reading in the UAE to create a generation of book lovers and to consolidate the country’s position as a global capital for culture and knowledge.
Fahmida Seitz, marketing and sales executive at Scholastic, which supplies the books, said so far they had distributed 8,800 books to 33 winners since the competition began in February.
“We are giving away a variety of English and Arabic books from fiction to non-fiction, everything one can imagine,” Ms Seitz said.
“I love seeing the children’s faces when I give them huge boxes filled with books. The excitement and joy on their faces is really rewarding.”
For more information visit thenational.ae/uaereadschallenge.
akhaishgi@thenational.ae
Juliet, Naked
Dir: Jesse Peretz
Starring: Chris O'Dowd, Rose Byrne, Ethan Hawke
Two stars
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
Earth under attack: Cosmic impacts throughout history
- 4.5 billion years ago: Mars-sized object smashes into the newly-formed Earth, creating debris that coalesces to form the Moon
- 66 million years ago: 10km-wide asteroid crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out over 70 per cent of living species – including the dinosaurs.
- 50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater
- 1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.
- 1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.
- 1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.
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The specs
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Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
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On sale: Available to order now
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
HOW TO WATCH
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Company profile
Company name: Suraasa
Started: 2018
Founders: Rishabh Khanna, Ankit Khanna and Sahil Makker
Based: India, UAE and the UK
Industry: EdTech
Initial investment: More than $200,000 in seed funding
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Job: CEO JCDecaux Middle East
In the role: Since January 2015
Lives: In the UAE
Background: M&A, investment banking
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The Bio
Favourite place in UAE: Al Rams pearling village
What one book should everyone read: Any book written before electricity was invented. When a writer willingly worked under candlelight, you know he/she had a real passion for their craft
Your favourite type of pearl: All of them. No pearl looks the same and each carries its own unique characteristics, like humans
Best time to swim in the sea: When there is enough light to see beneath the surface
PAKISTAN v SRI LANKA
Twenty20 International series
Thu Oct 26, 1st T20I, Abu Dhabi
Fri Oct 27, 2nd T20I, Abu Dhabi
Sun Oct 29, 3rd T20I, Lahore
Tickets are available at www.q-tickets.com
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
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