Steel baskets with tote bags that resemble hot dogs, a bright coloured cup, a soda can, and chips box are strategically placed over the books on display. On closer examination, one finds that the baskets announce the book category – board books, story books etc. The cups and bags are on sale for a modest price as are hoodies and t-shirts with the “Read, you are in Sharjah” message in Arabic sewn on them.
The merchandise gets more interesting at the display refrigerator – pizza boxes with the reading message, soda cans, milk bottles, etc. These boxes quickly attract visitor curiosity.
“We basically want to market the idea of books to kids in a way they will understand. Just as it is important for us to go to the supermarket to buy eggs and milk to build our bodies, we should take care of our brains and feed them using books. Our campaign ‘Read, you’re in Sharjah’ was inspired by the earlier slogan ‘Smile, You’re in Sharjah’. The book on display in the fridge doesn’t have a listed price which is meant to convey that books are priceless. The egg box on display has the caption ‘Wisdom eggs with wisdom protein’. This is our unique marketing idea in a festival filled with books,” explained Alya Duaifes, Creative Production Coordinator for Menassah.
The pavilion also has a doodle corner where children can use stickers from the Menassah brand to create images of their choice on a board. Monsters, trees and the sun are among the creations that the young visitors have come up with so far.
Alya added that any registered member of the Emirates Publishers Association (EPA) will have the opportunity to get their books marketed and sold by Menassah. For SCRF, the books on display cater to a young audience. Occupying pride of place in the Menassah pavilion is a group of children’s books that have won the International Award for Arabic Children’s Literature instituted by the Sharjah-based UAE Board on Books for Young People (UAEBBY) and e&.
Taking place from April 23 to May 4 at Expo Centre Sharjah, the 16th edition of SCRF promises an immersive experience under the theme “Dive into Books”. Organised by the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA), this year’s agenda will feature 133 guests from 70 countries, and 122 Arab and international publishing houses from 22 nations.
For more information on this free-to-attend event, visit
www.scrf.ae.
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