For the first time, Saudi Arabia is on the list of the 53 participating countries in the 19th Biennial Congress of the International Research Society for Children’s Literature. Sabah Aisawi is the reason behind this achievement. The assistant professor of children’s literature at King Faisal University presented a paper this August during the congress discussing three children’s stories written by Saudi writers in English.

“Writing in English to the children of Saudi Arabia might cause some controversy. Some might say that we want our children to read in English and to be exposed to foreign cultures and others would ask why we are not writing in Arabic for Arab children?” says Aisawi.

The same discussion was heard when the idea of introducing English at elementary levels at schools was proposed, says Aisawi. “There are still people who believe that children shouldn’t be exposed to foreign cultures at a very early age. But for children to learn the language, they have to know the culture,” she says.

But Aisawi had a different argument in mind when she studied and analyzed the selected works to present at the conference. She examined contemporary Arab children’s literature as a means for achieving cross-cultural communication among the younger generation in the West.

“The West has incorrect ideas about Islam at present. I think we ought to show the true picture through children,” says Aisawi. “Stories written in English will be useful for our children and for children around the world to learn about us and our culture.”

The first work selected for her study is “Sarah’s Mirror: A Young Girl’s Journey through Time with a Talking Mirror” which was co-authored by Maha Al-Faisal and Maryam Sharief. The story deals with different epochs of Islamic history while bringing out universal children’s characteristics.

In an article published by Arab News in 2003, Maryam Sharief said that children were alienated and they were being fed an international culture with no face: “We had personalities and heroes that don’t belong to the Islamic tradition. Writing for Muslim children requires a lot of creative work. It’s a new art which requires pioneers. Nowadays, we need to make traditional stories more enjoyable for children. We need to forge a new art of story telling.”

Maha Al-Faisal explained that the idea of the mirror in the story is to explain the concept of history: “Is history real or an illusion? History, in fact, exists now, in its time. Any historical reality, if it is relevant, exists in the eternal present. The past and the future are a reflection of the present.”

The other story Aisawi selected is “Adventures of a Paperweight” by Hala bint Khalid in which she explores issues of identity and difference. “Alaa and the Lost Key” by Samira Zaidan is the final story Aisawi studied in which the writer retold familiar eastern folktales. “The messages conveyed by the stories promote attitudes of tolerance and acceptance of differences among children in different parts of the world which, in turn, encourages multi-culturalism and cross-cultural understanding,” says Aisawi.

“We share the same interests and friendships and honesty.” Aisawi said she tried to look for these values in the stories as if there is an essence common to all cultures.

“We’re all humans and we have in the same system of values, honesty and integrity. We might differ in the way we dress and the language we speak or the way we look but basically we are human beings and we have shared concepts that children around the world could appreciate and understand,” says Aisawi.

During the congress held at Goethe University in Frankfurt, Aisawi said that Hans Ewers, head of organizing committee, attended her session to show appreciation for her contribution. “They were very interested in the stories. Librarians were also interested in getting copies of the stories I discussed for their libraries in Europe, Canada and America. I was one of three scholars representing the Arab world. I’m honored to have been invited to attend the upcoming congress in Australia in 2011,” says Aisawi.

She lives in Dammam and has recently established a public library for children in the city; its name is the Baba Hamad Children’s Library.