Books — Made in UAE
Our participants
Our writers
Noura Abbas Al-Khoori was born in 1982 in the United Arab Emirates. She graduated as an environmentalist and pursued a four-year career in the field until she became a mother and a home-maker. Her three little children are the main source of inspiration and her bedtime stories spurred the idea of writing books for children that reflect the culture of this region. She is now coupling volunteer work with writing for children.
noura.khoori@gmail.com
noura.khoori@gmail.com
Nooreya Mohamed Tayeb was born in Abu Dhabi. She is married and mother of two daughters. Nooreya holds a Bachelor degree in family science, a diploma in curriculum and teaching methods and a Masters degree in Educational and Psychological Counseling. She works as a personal counselor at Masdar Institute.
nwaary1979@yahoo.com
nwaary1979@yahoo.com
Maitha Al Khayat is a children’s book author and illustrator who is passionate about reading and writing since childhood. A graduate in business administration from Higher Colleges of Technology in Ras Al Khaimah, Maitha worked in the college library before becoming a full time mother. The need for funny Emirati books inspired her to write and illustrate for children. Among her published works are I love my Daddy’s Long Beard and the award-winning My own special way – the first Emirati children’s book to see its rights sold to the UK. Her book When a Camel Craves Loqaimat was published during Sharjah International Book Fair 2012.
Mariam Al Rashedi was born in Abu Dhabi in 1987. After attending Children Literature course with Prof. Patience Sowa, she discovered her talent in writing. With the help of Goethe-Institut Gulf-Region and the UAE Board on Books for Young People, Mariam’s writings went to publishing. Mariam holds a Bachelor degree in Education from Zayed University. She lives in Abu Dhabi.
Reem Saleh Easa Al Gurg, mother of two, born and bred in Dubai has been a passionate reader as early as she can remember. From the moment she knew she was to be a mother, she kept no book unread about how to make children love reading and discovered how scarce Arabic children’s literature is in bookshops. Writing being her dream, she penned her debut children’s book Wid wa Walid – a series of seven picture books. Reem is currently pursuing a PhdD degree in the UK and has several stories about to be published.
Ayesha Al Hashemi was born and raised in Abu Dhabi. After studying Education and Literature, she started exploring the world of children’s books and writing for them in Arabic. Reading books from her father’s bookcase awakened her love of reading and writing in early life. Coming from a culturally diverse family, Ayesha grew up with an appreciation for languages. She currently works with college students learning Arabic as a second language.
Our illustrators
Shaima Al Malik, born 1984 in Dubai, graduated from Dubai Women’s College (Bachelor of Arts, distinction of honours) in Graphic Design. She now works as independent illustrator and graphic designer. In 2010, she won first place for best design at the Sheikh Majid Media Awards. Shaima participated in many events such as Character Dubai 2009 and Middle East Film and Comic Con 2012. She also works for the Ministry of Education, private companies and individual clients.
Website of Shaima Al Malik
shaima.almalik@gmail.com
Website of Shaima Al Malik
shaima.almalik@gmail.com
Fatma Al Mehairi was born in 1985 in Dubai. She studied interior design at Zayed University. Since her childhood, she showed an interest in and a talent for drawing and illustration. Her love for children’s stories and movies was her motivation to work as an illustrator. Currently Fatma works as an illustrator and a graphic designer for curriculum books in the Curriculum Department at the Ministry of Education.
Instagram page of Fatma Al Mehairi
almehairi.fatma@gmail.com
Instagram page of Fatma Al Mehairi
almehairi.fatma@gmail.com
Abdullah Al Sharhan is an Emirati illustrator and director from Ras Al Khaimah. He is the creator of the popular Hamdoon character and comic book series about the life of an Emirati boy, later made into cartoon series shown on UAE TV during Ramadan 2012. He is also the editor of the 999 children's magazine. His published works include The Tsar's Treasure in Abu Dhabi, the Atfaluna series and Ana Hurra (arabic, 'I am free') to be published by Dar Al-Aalam Al-Arabi. Abdullah is the recipient of several prizes, such as the first prize in the Kanagawa Biennial World Children's Art in 1996 and the second prize at the Arab University Biennale 2002.
Instagram page of Abdullah Al Sharhan
abudalla@socoool.com
Instagram page of Abdullah Al Sharhan
abudalla@socoool.com
Reem Al Mazrouei is a senior at Zayed University Abu Dhabi, currently studying visual art and animation at Twofour54. She always strives for detail and a rich palette, loosing herself in her sketches and drawings. When an audience experiences her work, she wants them to imagine, think and daydream about it. Reem finds her inspiration in modern and contemporary art. Moreover, she enjoys artwork that tells a story, such as mythology or folklore, as well as fairy tales.
handmade.memento@gmail.com
handmade.memento@gmail.com
Nauf Abdulrahman Al-Shaikh was born in Al Ain in 1991. 3D movies and Japanese animations have been her source of inspiration. She has been drawing for as long as she can remember. Nauf moved to Abu Dhabi to continue her studies in Arts. She is now a student at Zayed University at the College of Arts and Design, and currently majoring in Animation.
nauf.uae@gmail.com
nauf.uae@gmail.com
Dana Al Mazrouei is a third-year student at Zayed University specialized in Graphic Design. Art and design have been her passion ever since she was a child. She enjoys creating characters, illustrations, comic, video games, animation, and experimenting with various media and computer programs.
Website of Dana Al Mazrouei
dn.almazrouei@gmail.com
Website of Dana Al Mazrouei
dn.almazrouei@gmail.com
Nasir Nasrallah, born in Sharjah in 1984, currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Emirates Fine Arts Society. He is an ambassador to The UAE Board on Books for Young People. Nasir participated in several exhibitions, including two solo exhibitions at the Sharjah Art Museum in 2009 and 2011. As illustrator, he contributed to children’s books, such as The Emarati Fingers Plays (Kalimat) and wrote and illustrated Abjad Hawaz Fanan (self-published). Nasir served several times on the jury of the Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed Award for Children's Creativity and won the first award at the 30th Emirates Fine Arts session exhibition.
Instagram page of Nasir Nasrallah
prof_creative@hotmail.com
Instagram page of Nasir Nasrallah
prof_creative@hotmail.com
Our Experts
Ute Krause has been working as a children’s book writer and illustrator for the past 26 years. She has illustrated around 200 and written 14 books. Her work has been turned into films for children’s T.V., into radio plays, nominated for children’s book prizes and translated into many different languages. Six of her books have been translated by Abu Dhabi translation initiative KALIMA into Arabic. She grew up in Asia and Africa and lived for six years in New York. Ute Krause’s picture book Oscar and the Very Hungry Dragon (also translated into Arabic) is nominated for the Florida Reading Association Award, for the Montana Treasure State Picture Book Award and the Washington Children’s Choice Picture Book Award 2012.
Website of Ute Krause
Website of Ute Krause
Kirsten Boie is one of Germany’s best known children’s and teen novel authors. She has written more than 60 children’s books and teen novels, many of which have been translated into English, Chinese, Spanish, and Turkish, among other languages. Her novel Alhambra has been translated into Arabic. During her illustrious writing career, Kirsten Boie received all major German children’s literature prizes. She is a multiple Hans Christian Andersen Award nominee (IBBY) and has recently been awarded with the German order of merit.
Website of Kirsten Boie
Website of Kirsten Boie
Nadia Budde was born in Berlin in 1967. A trained retail display designer she began studying graphic arts at the Berlin College of Art in Weissensee in 1992 and continued at the Royal College of Art in London completing her degree in 2000. Her first picture book, Eins zwei drei Tier, was published in 1999 and received several awards. By now she has published many more picture books, all of them very popular and many of them translated into several languages. Nadia Budde lives and works in Berlin.
Website of Nadia Budde
Website of Nadia Budde