Sheikha Fatima bint Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan Prize for the Arab Child Competition

Abstract

This article examines the Sheikha Fatima bint Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan Prize for the Arab Child Competition from two complementary perspectives: a strategic perspective concerned with the emergence of the prize and its cultural and educational aims, and a critical perspective concerned with the artistic qualities of the winning stories. The text explains the context in which the prize appeared, its role in directing Arab children’s literature, expanding its fields, and linking creative writing for children with educational values and cultural identity. It also traces the development of the prize and the widening of its branches to include several areas of Arab children’s culture.

In its critical dimension, the article discusses the artistic features of the prize-winning stories, focusing on the internal and external influences that shape children’s books and on their relation to character construction, imagination, language, visual presentation, and the values conveyed to young readers. In the available portion of the article, the discussion adopts an evaluative approach that balances the aesthetic and educational dimensions of children’s literature and treats the prize as an entry point to a broader reading of writing addressed to the Arab child.