The Sharjah Children's Reading Festival (SCRF) 2024 buzzed with a different kind of energy this year. At the Wooden Books workshop, creativity wasn't just on display - it was being nurtured and transformed into tangible form. Here, children as young as eight were shedding their reader hats and becoming full-fledged authors, crafting their very own storybooks.
The mastermind behind this imaginative workshop is Ghiwa Bouyounes, an interior designer with a passion for using her skills to ignite a love for learning in young minds. Bouyounes' concept was simple yet ingenious:provide budding authors with a blank canvas – wooden squares in this case – and empower them to bring their stories to life. Armed with stencils of various animals and birds, a vibrant palette of colors, and threads to bind their creations, these youngsters embarked on a literary adventure.
The workshop wasn't about following a rigid format. Bouyounes envisioned these wooden books as a springboard for unrestrained imagination. Children could create simple picture books or weave intricate narratives filled with dialogue – the choice was theirs. The result was a delightful spectacle of artistic expression. Some books transported readers to the heart of the African savanna, while others unfolded fantastical tales set in the bustling cities of the UAE.
The Wooden Books workshop wasn't just about storytelling; it was a beautiful marriage of art and literature. Children exercised their artistic flair by coloring the wooden squares and using the stencils to create their characters. This visual element perfectly complemented the written narrative, giving their stories an extra layer of depth and intrigue.
For many children, the workshop was a transformative experience. It instilled in them the confidence to express themselves creatively and the joy of weaving tales. More importantly, it showed them that the power to create a story – a world of their own making – resided within them. The seeds of a lifelong love for literature were undoubtedly sown during those creative sessions at SCRF 2024.