‘My Home Town’ book launched by Let’s Read Programme in Oman

Muscat: Let’s Read Programme of Dar Al Atta’a yesterday launched a book titled ‘My Home Town’ at Al Qurum Complex. Parents of children, whose writings were included in the book, attended the launch event and bought the book which was priced at OMR4 on the day.
The Let’s Read campaign organises its Children’s Writing Competition every year and the ninth Children’s Writing Competition was launched in January 2015, which invited school children to submit five hundred words, in English or Arabic, on the subject of: ‘My Home Town.’
Entries were to include some factual information about the town’s location, its geographical features, population and history. Students were also requested to write about their home town’s special features.
“We posed the following questions; did an historic event take place in the town? Is the town known for something that is grown, created or manufactured there? Was someone famous born there? Does someone important live in the town, perhaps a favourite family member, or a friend? We asked the children to give a detailed description. The entries were judged according to four age groups: 5 to 8 years, 9 to 11 years, 12 to 14 years and 15 to 18 years.” said Jane Jaffer, who started the campaign in 2007.
The fifty-three entries in the book, My Home Town, represent just a fraction of the hundreds of entries received from school children across the country. The home towns featured in the book span continents around the world. The judges were struck by the quality of the writing and how well presented the entries were. The diverse locations, featured in the book, reflect the many well-travelled children who are living in Oman. Many children wrote about the importance of spending time in the holidays with their extended families.
“Many thanks to Nabaa Ali Al Lawati for creating the front cover of the book, and to the photographers-Hyesha Barrett-Jaffer, Glyn Barrett and Paula Williams.We would like to thank Nalini Subramanian for working hard to bring My Home Town to publication. Many thanks to Sweets of Oman LLC for sponsoring the translation of the book into Arabic. We are extremely grateful to Mazoon Publishing and Printing for sponsoring this wonderful collection of children’s stories. We would like to thank Norma Ross and everyone at the Al Qurum Complex for their continuous support of our campaign. Most important of all, many thanks to the students who have created this great book.” Jaffer added.
The judges of the 9th Children’s Writing Competition were Alison Al Maskari, Sarah Campbell, Cathy Dalton, Sonia Carr, Salma Mawlawi, Christiane Mushantef, Elizabeth Al Sarhani and Jane Jaffer.