Books for the future
The Cairo International Children's Book Fair celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Dina Ezzat reports on the forum's debate over the future of books
Egypt played host to a wide spectrum of children's book writers and publishers this week. They were here to participate in the 20th Cairo International Children's Book Fair (CCBF), which Mrs Suzanne Mubarak inaugurated at the Nasr City Fairgrounds last Sunday. "We meet here to assess what we have achieved," Mubarak said, "as well as what we need to do to promote the quality of children's books, and enhance all the mechanisms required for their distribution."
According to Mrs Mubarak, who was addressing a seminar attended by prominent Egyptian, Arab and international writers and publishers, there was a pressing need for more diverse and creative children's books that cater for children of all ages, including pre-schoolers, and all conditions, including mental or other deficiencies. "Egyptian children cannot be expected to merely confine their readings to text books at school. Children's books can contribute to establishing a better future."
For over a decade Mrs Mubarak, who took a two-hour tour of the fair, has spearheaded several national campaigns promoting reading for children. Her remarks prefaced a wide-ranging debate taking place at the fair vis-à-vis the current status, prospects and problems of the Egyptian children's book industry. It also prompted questions regarding the role and effectiveness of the CCBF itself.
"This is a very important debate," said prominent children's books writer Abdel-Tawwab Youssef, "and it comes at a very crucial time for the children's book industry." Like other writers and publishers, Youssef has serious concerns about the industry's future. "I have suffered from a sharp decrease in production this year," he said. "This occurred despite the state's sincere commitment, because the fact of the matter is that children's books are becoming far more expensive to produce, and more difficult to sell."
Publishers and authors who gathered for discussions during the first few days of the fair offered a multitude of reasons for the drop in both the number of titles being produced as well as the number of copies being sold. For the most part they agreed that the rapid rise in the prices of good quality paper and printing -- both of which are essential to produce eye-catching and attractive books for children -- has served to intimidate publishers as well as dishearten writers. "A roll of medium quality printing paper that used to cost LE130 now costs LE290 because of the changing exchange rate between the US dollar and the Egyptian pound," an industry veteran said. His suggestion: "The state has to meet its increasing conceptual commitment to children's books by encouraging the government to exempt the paper and ink used in producing children's books from taxes."
According to Youssef, "even though the state subsidises the production and distribution of children's books in many ways, especially those produced by the pioneering Family Library project, much more can be done."
Ashraf Hazem, who works in book marketing, said the reality of the matter is that many books -- "like Harry Potter, a book almost every child wants to read" -- had to be imported. That meant, Hazem said, that the government should also consider "lowering taxes in cases such as these".
Consumers also had their wallets in mind. Madiha Mohamed, whose two children attend primary school, was full of praise for the vastly improved quality of Egyptian children's books, but was also dismayed that the better books "come at a relatively expensive price". Mohamed did not bring her sons with her to the fair, expressly to avoid disappointing them. "If each of them picked three books, I would end up spending no less than LE100, which is too expensive for me."
Other parents speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly argued that most of the books on display were "reasonably priced". Mohamed Imam, an Egyptian living in South Africa who has brought his two boys to the fair for the past four years during their annual winter holiday, said, "you should compare the content and quality of what you buy here with the price you would pay for the same product in the US or Europe." He pointed to a LE70 pre-school level Arabic-English dictionary. "This is about $10. I would have paid no less than $50 for the same item had I bought it in South Africa."
Most people, however, do not think in dollars. Luckily, then, there are plenty of state-subsidised colouring and other books available for an average of LE2 each. Even some private sector published titles go for as low as LE5-15.
The multi-media titles featuring CDs and tapes, meanwhile, feature price tags that, despite the 20 per cent discount offered for the fair, one parent called "unbelievable".
Prices were just one of the topics being debated by the industry insiders at the fair. Other issues included the ever-changing interests of children, as well as the challenges posed by the Internet.
"This book fair is not just an opportunity for people to buy books," said publisher's assistant Ashraf Michel, "but also for those in the book industry to meet and talk."
According to Ahmed Zaki, director of the Education Ministry's book fairs division, this year's CCBF was attended by some 280 Egyptian, Arab and international publishers. Also participating, he said, were many prominent foreign writers who came to Egypt to explore developments in the children's book industry, as well as share their own experiences.
"This has been a very interesting experience for me," said Belgian author Bart Moeyart. "I learned a lot about children's books, not only in Egypt but in the Arab world in general, and so did my publisher, who came with me."
The fair runs till 20 December.
