A new session of the Arab Children's Book Fair has been launched in Sweden, but this year it is virtual, as it was last year, due to the restrictions imposed by the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. The fair is held via a three-dimensional electronic platform that enables children to participate and buy books in an easy way
Alaa Al-Barghouthi, CEO of Nordic Digital World, the organizer of the exhibition, explains the mechanism for children’s participation in the exhibition, which began on February 18 and will continue until March 18.
Virtual tour of the Arab Book Fair
The child enters the platform via his tablet and selects a cartoon character through which he enters the virtual exhibition hall, wanders between the publishing houses, and selects the book he wants.
The child learns about the details of the book by clicking on it, according to Al-Barghouthi, and buys the book directly, and receives it in paper form two days later. Making the platform a friendly and easy tool for the child was a challenge for the exhibition management. The management developed an application similar to the game applications that children deal with daily.
Various activities in the virtual library
A number of publishing houses from the Arab world and Turkey are participating in the exhibition, presenting a range of books, especially children's stories and educational books. It includes musical plays and virtual concerts. The exhibition also presents, in a lecture hall, stories and special segments, and seminars dedicated to parents that present educational and teaching topics.
“The idea started out of necessity, but it is gaining acceptance and the exhibition is seeing increasing interest,” says Barghouthi. The organizers tried to keep the activities simple to attract children’s attention. The company organizing the Sweden exhibition has drawn up a plan that includes holding a number of real-life exhibitions in European countries, and will begin implementing them when the spread of Covid-19 subsides.
