Sharjah24: There was not a dull moment for the primary school children who gathered around storyteller Alla Fedorets during the workshop “Bring your Stories to Life” at the 43rd Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF 2024) which opened its doors to children and adults alike on November 6 at Expo Centre Sharjah.
“The workshop aimed to tell a story through movements and voice because children now live in a very stressful world. They need to express their emotions, negative ones included, and take with them some positive emotions after the storytelling. They can imagine and make their own story, and I see they are happy as it is an interesting way of interaction and expression,” pointed out the Ukrainian trainer.
Fedorets began her session with a little song and dance, adorning the children with apples placed in a green net to symbolise an apple tree. She talked about the wondrous world filled with flowers and animals, and then digressed to the tale of a kitten who unlocks the magical world. Through a life-size book with cutouts of animals including a hedgehog, owl and fox, the trainer explained how the kitten opens a door leading to the magical world and how a dark cloud threatens it with gloom and cold weather until a golden sunflower brightens the situation.
The children then eagerly gathered around a table to stick cutouts of the characters in the story on a sheet of paper. Decorating the mask of a fox supplemented the illustrative experience, and the children left enlightened and enthused by the interactive storytelling.
SIBF 2024 is a 12-day cultural extravaganza themed ‘It Starts with a Book’ and has in store 1,357 activities from November 6-17 for children and adults alike. Organised by the Sharjah Book Authority, it will present a comprehensive programme of 600 workshops for various age groups, including 465 sessions for adults and children and 135 for early childhood, covering heritage, media, entrepreneurship, technology, environment, arts, life skills, and creative writing.
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