“Good stories surprise us. They make us think and feel. They stick in our minds and help us remember ideas and concepts in a way that a PowerPoint crammed with bar graphs never can.” - Joe Lazauskas
Who does not like stories? Stories are a world full of imagination and meanings. Through the story, we can express feelings and thoughts that enter the mind smoothly, without violence and coercion, to live in the hearts for years, and are repeated generation after generation.
The art of writing children’s stories is a very special talent, and it requires imagination and mastery of writing so that the writer with their pen can build a whole world of fictional characters and connect them in an attractive framework that fills the mind and conscience of children and fascinates them. Children’s stories may be short, and they may appear deceptively simple, but they are one of the most difficult forms to master.
Rania Bedda is an Egyptian writer specializing in children's literature. She started writing stories for children in colloquial Arabic (Egyptian) and published them on her Facebook page, Hadotat Rania "Rania's Story”. She, also, launched a YouTube channel with the same name. During the COVID-19 lockdown, she launched "Stay at home and listen to stories" with the collaboration of illustrators and voice-over artists to enrich the episodes with suspense.
Rania published 3 stories in colloquial Egyptian dialect; Dobby the Rabbit, about agreements and how to abide by them; Sky and Ricco, about emotions and anger management; Mazangi about dividing a big goal into small steps.
Rania was one of the most prominent contributors to the "Madrasa" initiative to convert Arabic language lessons into animation episodes. Nine of her episodes are already available on the platform. She also wrote 25 stories for the memory game "Find Me", published by Anamel.
SHYAMLA: A NOVEL FOR YOUNG ADULTS
Rania won Sharjah Prize for Children's Books 2021 for her novel “Shyamla” for adolescents (in Arabic) for ages 13 to 17 published by the Egyptian publishing house, Nahdet Misr. Ahmed bin Rakkad Al Ameri, President of the Sharjah Authority, honored her during the winners' ceremony of the "Sharjah Children's Book Award" at the Expo Center Sharjah, during the activities of the 12th edition of the "Sharjah Children's Reading Festival". The novel was also released at Cairo Book Fair 2021.
Shyamla, (meaning the brown-skinned girl), is about a 15-year-old girl, who lost her mother as a child, and has been suffering from the pain of loss for years. She is always attached to a Jasmine Necklace. She takes a trip to Jaipur (The Pink City) with her school and then meets the elephant Suraj (his name means full moon), a skeptical man-hater, but the scent of jasmine attracts him to Shyamla.
Step by step he begins to trust her and they communicate with each other in their own way. Her friendship with Suraj makes her happy and outgoing with her colleagues, and consequently, her true personality begins to appear. As events develop, we will know that Shyamla and Suraj are similar in many aspects, as they were brought together by the same feelings of loss, sadness, love of drawing, life, and colors.
The writer Rania Bedda opened her heart to Majalla and talks about many aspects of children's literature and the ideal methods for raising our children through the world of culture and literature, as well as her personal dreams and wishes.
AWARD-WINNING WRITER
First, she revealed the secret behind her specialization in children's literature and stories. “It was a coincidence, but specifically, the achievements of mothers are always motivated by their children, so the motive for me was to improve the relationship with my children, especially my eldest son, at the beginning of adolescence,” she said.
She was fully convinced that “storytelling” was the best way to deliver messages to children instead of lectures. At that time, her passion for telling "stories" came into her mind; it was the spark, and from here began her journey.
“It was like a dream come true - I felt very happy as if I was rewarded by God”, she said of her feelings after she received a surprising email last May announcing that she would receive a major prize for her first novel, “Shyamla”.
“My energy has been recharged again and I got rid of exhaustion with this happy news.”
ENCOURAGING LITTLE READERS
Replying to a question about the activity of reading in the present young generation compared to previous generations, Bedda said that “the reading hobby still exists so far, but its popularity differed from previous decades. In the past, there was no entertainment except reading and other simple things, but at present, there are many means of entertainment and learning, so reading is no longer the only outlet for entertainment with the invasion of technology.”
However, she noted that “The family plays a prominent role in linking the child to reading from a young age, e.g. telling or reading bedtime stories, in addition to, linking the book to happy memories, choosing joyful stories, and presenting them as gifts. The child from the age of 3 to 5 prefers animal stories, and from 7 to 9 the child is passionate about adventures, and after ten, boys tend towards exploratory stories and girls tend towards social stories.”
As for schools, she agreed that they also play an important role by setting up a special library for children to connect them to reading, and at an advanced age some schools are doing a project for a specific novel, and if the child likes the novel type, he or she will read the rest of its chapters and this has already happened with her children.
POSITIVE PARENTING AND VALUES
Rania Bedda shared with us her own tips for parenting which are totally positive, as she advised parents “to get rid of the constant blame and criticism or directing by creating crises and quarrels; to listen to our children and contribute with advice and insight.”
Bedda believes that “our crisis is that we consider our children our property and not normal human beings, they are not machines that we move them as we like.”
Through her writings, Rania Bedda is keen to instill certain values in children.
“Children in the past years relied on external, not internal, motives in doing anything; depending always on their parents or older ones. I hope their motivation comes from within and from solving their problems, so I always present the protagonist as being responsible for solving his/her problems.”
She also added, “We also have a problem in expressing our feelings, young and old. I seek to develop this courage, and for the child to cling to his dreams and his belief in himself and his abilities.”
PANDEMIC CHALLENGES FOR KIDS
It goes without saying that the excessive use of technology due to the life changes over COVID-19 restrictions has affected the little ones’ lives as much as it did for adults. This impact is arguably negative, however, Bedda could see a silver lining, especially throughout her experience with her children.
“Technology has no longer become for them merely for entertainment, but to perform several things related to education, knowledge, and aspiration. It also saves a lot of wasted time to learn these things earlier,” she pointed out.
Nevertheless, she thinks that children who totally depend on their teachers in the process of learning felt frustrated during this period, especially those of young age who suffer from slow comprehension.
‘Shyamla’ reflects Rania
Although Shyamla is a fictional character, the author believed that she is just like her when she described her feelings while she was talking to her mother. “I was the one who was talking, not Shyamla.”
Describing herself as a writer, Bedda said when writing for children, she restores the spirit of the child inside her so that she can write in their language and vocabulary to be able to reach them well. “I always bring up the spirit of the child, not the mother, because the mother always wants to educate and give lectures, but the child wants to have fun.”
On the other hand, Rania, the mother, considers herself the mother of all children whom she wishes to reach out to through her novels and stories. She hopes to leave a print in their hearts forever, just as “Abla Fadila” did with past generations who were obsessed with her.
On a personal level, she hopes to provide the best education and guidance for her children, so that they can express themselves and their dreams correctly, and not be the dominant mother.
A final list of advice the mother writer presented to other hardworking mothers was, “Be easy on yourself, as you are already doing everything you can. Enjoy living each stage of your children's development; from infancy to children to teenagers up to the stage of marriage. Stay away from pressure, and enjoy raising your children, and always accept their mistakes, one day they will quit it as long as we guide them in the right way.”
“I hope to publish two new novels that I have already written, and to present a program on the radio, and follow the approach of Abla Fadila,” Bedda told Majalla about her future hopes.
She also hopes that the novel “Shyamla” be adapted to be an animation film like Disney movies.
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