Why is it that the Children’s Book Fair at the Cairo International Conference Center is always well attended by hordes of schoolchildren enjoying a day trip with their teachers, yet very few of them carry any books on their way out? Why, asked this year’s fair, which ran December 1–6 and was sponsored by First Lady Suzanne Mubarak, should children be taken to the edge of the water only to be whisked away thirsty?

What was available were either beautifully illustrated English, French or German books, which were quite pricey, next to good-quality Arabic translations of books, offered by publishing houses like Nahdet Masr.

But where, everyone seemed to be asking, were the Arabic books, the original ones written by Egyptian writers for Egyptian children? True, Dar Al-Maaref’s booth seemed to be doing some business, with parents stacking the famous and very affordable Green Library books, some of the publishing house’s classics. But these were published over 50 years ago and include some fairytales that may no longer be suitable for today’s child. Other publishing houses found the fair to be a good opportunity to peddle all kinds of books that had nothing to do with children, including titles on religion, cookery, knitting and even politics.

And in the midst of all the chaos was Dar El-Shorouk, one of the most distinguished publishing houses in Egypt today. The venerable establishment has a very busy children’s publishing unit, the highlight of which is the adorable series of books starring Fezo, the brainchild of the cartoonist, illustrator and children’s writer Walid Taher. Fezo fil Dulab (Fezo in the Closet), Nisf Fezo (half of Fezo), and Fezo Ya’ref Ya’ref (Fezo Knows It All) are the first three in the six part series in which Fezo addresses some of the common issues children aged five to seven face, like shyness, impatience and even depression. The books were beautifully executed and illustrated by great writers including the thinker Dr. Abdel Wahab El-Miseiri, a first-time children’s writer, and Helmi el-Toni, one of Egypt’s renowned painters and illustrators.

To date, El-Shorouk has published over 200 original Arabic titles, many of which have received both national and international awards, and some of which were translated into other languages, including Taher’s first book, Sahbi El-Gedid (My New Friend), which was translated into German at the request of a German publishing house, an historic industry first.

Sitting in her small office surrounded by hundreds of children’s books and illustrations, Amira Abul Magd glows as she talks about her fruitful eight years as the head of the children’s publishing unit at Dar El-Shorouk.

Mohsen Allam

“When my friends first found out I was into publishing Arabic books for children, they said ‘Oh, what a shame!’ This made me ask myself, ‘Am I selling something nobody wants?’ But when I did my homework I realized it was not only about the language, it was also about quality. When you show any kid an Arabic book and an English book, he or she feels that the book is ugly, unattractive, not relevant and boring. I love Arabic, it is a wonderful language, but because it is closely connected to the Qur’an, writers are reluctant to play with it. When they want to, they use ammiyya [colloquial],” she says.

When Abul Magd arrived at the unit, El-Shorouk had already published a great number of children’s books. “The beginning was in the late 1970s, when we started publishing simplified classics like the Arabian Nights, Goha’s fables or stories from the Qur’an. The main reason was the lack of children’s writers, and the books were written by authors like Ahmed Bahgat and Ahmed Ragab, who write for grown-ups. Some of the most beautiful illustrations were by Mostafa Hussein and Helmi El-Toni, who were still young 30 years ago,” she remembers.

At the time, the publishing house also released licensed titles from Disney, among others, in addition to many non-fiction titles. Today, Abul Magd has changed most of that. “I have a very strict policy: When it comes to fiction, you should try to encourage your own writers and to familiarize your readers with the local culture. Sometimes you get very tempted to do otherwise. Why should we re-invent the wheel? You know what? I think in this case we really should re-invent the wheel, inventing a new Arabic language targeting children,” she says.

Only when it comes to scientific children’s books and other non-fiction releases that El-Shorouk relaxes its policy. “It is almost impossible to have an Egyptian writer write a children’s scientific book, for the very simple reason that they are not trained to do so. We don’t have trained artists who can execute scientific illustrations. It is a profession in its own right. We tried it a couple of times, but it came to nothing. This is why children’s science textbooks are very ugly. This is becoming more of a problem today because kids are exposed to the most wonderful visual images on the internet.

“When you go to big book fairs like the Frankfurt or the Bologna, you’re bombarded by illustrators and writers who come with amazing portfolios. All you have to do is buy the CD. You can finish and print a book in one week. But we have a responsibility to develop our own writers, although an average children’s book may take three months in the making. The social benefits are more important. I believe Arab illustrators should be able to represent our own children better,” Abul Magd explains.

Mohsen Allam

But how far can social responsibility be stretched when most young illustrators who approach the publisher arrive with their portfolios chock-full of drawings of quaint cottages with red-brick roofs?

“It’s not like they’ve lived in Norway all their lives. Where did they pick it up? But it is not surprising when you know that there is no training available for these talents. There is no real interest in developing our local visual culture,” the publisher points out.

The easy way out is to either translate, or go back to the old.

“Many publishers go back to ancient fables and stories. Maybe because this is not our golden age, so we tend to look back to better times. But these old stories are mostly about good and evil. These are no longer real issues for children. The creative process in this case is nothing but doing some research and censoring out the politically incorrect aspects of the old tales,” she says. “Things change and we face fierce competition from other media. Children will simply stop reading. I had an illustrator who came to me with drawings of a grandmother, and she was old and bent and tired. Grandmothers today no longer look like this. Some of them are very cool —and many of them work. Details like these turn the kids off. Writers and illustrators must try to do their research. They must look around them,” she believes.

This is where her role as a publisher comes in, something only a few writers and illustrators understand.

“At the beginning, I had some very big names come to me with a ready-made CD. They would have chosen the illustrations, the size of the page and everything, and were often shocked when I refused. They could not differentiate between a publisher and a printing house. Until today, writers think that what they write is untouchable. They do not understand the idea of editing, of preparing something for the consumer to buy and enjoy. I have to explain that we both have a mission. Dealing with authors who are not trained to be authors is a real pain,” she complains.

One of Abul Magd’s biggest hurdles is finding writers who are creative — and willing — enough to work with her unique system.

“Too few writers are creative enough. We are not creative people, and many writers do not have much imagination, which is why children hate books. You cannot give kids something that they themselves can do better. They are funnier and more creative than us. They are better than us in all aspects. Children’s writers do not even read children’s books, so they don’t develop. I buy books and show them to the writers. The ideas in foreign books are endless, with endless approaches to the same children’s issues, which never change,” she says.

To the writers working with her, she may “seem very tough,” Abul Magd declares with a laugh. This is why she now prefers to work with her own set of authors.

“I work with my writers, we argue and sometimes they get upset, but in the end we reach the understanding that we are both working toward one goal,” she says. One of her daily fights is with the Arabic copyeditors. “One of the first books I published was My First Words, a simple book for young children. I did it with Walid Taher, and it showed the reader the things surrounding him or her, like the bedroom, the living room and the street with an Egyptian traffic policeman in his black and white uniform. I think it is an important book, and is to date one of my bestsellers. The copyeditors kept changing the words we chose to more difficult ones. I looked them up, and discovered that the simple words are as correct as the more classical ones. Why say wisada (pillow) when kids are used to the word mikhadda, and both are right? Why say qawaqi’ (seashells) when wada’ is more comprehensive? This is one of my main concerns, the idea of simplifying language to [entice] the children to [pick up] books. There should be a special language for children’s books,” she says.

Which is why Abul Magd is currently working on one of her favorite projects, a book targeting writers of children’s books.

“It is a manual for writers. Of course I do not expect it to be a bestseller, but for God’s sake, have mercy on the children. Do not make them hate the Arabic language on their first brush with it. It is still in the first stages, but we are going to make it child-friendly so older children can use it if they want to write too,” she announces.

According to Abul Magd, Egypt is currently 50 years behind Europe when it comes to the issues addressed in children’s books.

“Fifty years ago, European children’s books focused on issues like morality and patriotism. This is why when Roald Dahl first appeared, he was attacked. How dare he make fun of grandmothers? Today, he is one of the most-loved writers, and grandmothers around the world grew up reading his books. But at the time, he was brave enough to stand his ground and shy away from the norms. Until today, I have not found a single writer here willing to do this; challenge the norms,” Abul Magd says.

Today, the unit director is happy with the six or seven writers she constantly works with, although she still awaits a genius children’s writer. “It is difficult for writers to write solely for children. To be honest, it’s one of the main problems. It is not economically feasible. They have to wait for six or seven months for the book to start selling, because they depend on getting a percentage of the profits,” she says. Her writers include Amani Ashmawi, Samira Shafiq, Walid Taher and Fatma el-Maadoul. Sadly, none of her writers, all of whom are international award winners, receive much media attention here. “Nobody ever reviews children’s books. How else can you encourage the writer? Any stupid film that we all know about and which will make millions anyway receives hundreds of reviews before it’s even released,” she says.

Despite the media’s indifference, the children’s book publishing unit at El-Shorouk has managed to become profitable, much to the surprise of its director.

“We expected that the other units were going to carry us. But after a couple of years, this was no longer the case. We are now self-sufficient,” she beams. Today, she declares she has two dreams, a big one and a small one. “My small dream is to open a specialized children’s bookstore. I cannot do this unless I have enough Arabic books to fill it, which I don’t yet. I do not want to compete against foreign books. I want our children to grow up loving Arabic books and language. My big dream is for there to be an institute teaching the writing of children’s books, where writers study psychology and literature and whatever else they need to know. It is very important for the era we live in as Egyptians and Arabs. Education will only develop through books, new education methods and through the relationship with language,” she declares.

The Cairo International Book Fair opens on January 15, an event the publisher looks forward to every year, even more than she does the children’s fair. “It is our only chance to meet masses of readers, so we can get firsthand feedback,” she announces.

El-Shorouk will release a number of children’s titles for the fair. We received a sneak peek at one of them, Ana wa Gaddati (My Grandmother and I) a beautifully written and illustrated book (Fatma el-Maadoul and Helmi el-Touni respectively) in which a child is left with his grandmother, whom he loves, because his mother has to take care of his father in a different country.

Bored at first, the boy is jerked into reality when the grandmother falls sick. He buys her a pair of sneakers, helps her become more active, introduces her to the internet and the pair have a great time together. Written in clear Arabic, the book’s main attraction remains the unique choice of size and paper, giving it the look of a child’s notebook, with childish crayon illustrations.

With ideas like that, it’s no wonder Abul Magd is turning a profit.  et