Sharjah24: “I wish to see Sheikh Sultan,” wrote Ryan of 5A on the messaging board as the 12-day Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival opened for its 13th edition at Expo Centre Sharjah on May 11. Scores of child visitors to the festival expressed their desires and dreams on the message platform, which prompts them to “Close their eyes and think”. The thoughts have already come like a flood from children of all ages, in languages ranging from Arabic to Korean to Malayalam, conveying the beauty of their thoughts and aspirations.

While a few others also expressed their love for His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, some professed their love for the UAE and their faith in seeing it as the best country in the world in 50 years. Many professed their love for school and for vacations. The popularity of the SCRF was also evident in some messages. 

“You can” was what a child’s mind whispered to him when he closed his eyes, giving lessons in confidence and positivity.  An eighth grader scribbled her exam tension in her note. A couple of them wanted a pet, specifically a cat according to one. 

As for ambitions for the future, becoming a doctor or pilot topped the list. If one wanted to go to “America and swim and study”, another just wanted “to be rich with her BFF (best friends)”. Being in “an imaginary, adventurous, mysterious story trying to solve a problem” was what a lover of adventure stories hoped for.

The most beautiful of the messages expressed love for dads and moms. A note in Malayalam professed the child’s love for her Umma or mother underscoring it with the Hadid, “Heaven is under my mother’s feet”.

Bringing a smile on the reader’s face was the Arabic note by young Reem Ali: “I imagine that I place a smile on the faces of people in the streets.”