Bloomsbury Arabic kids’ books a hit at Harrods Tuesday, 10 August 2010 02:13

Best-selling children’s books translated into Arabic by Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing (BQFP) sold out at the world’s most famous luxury department store, Harrods, just two weeks after going on sale.

“The Arabic BQFP books were very popular and well received by the market here,” said Jill Baird, the manager of the Waterstones bookstore in Harrods. “They were sold out very quickly,” he added.

The books, which were on sale for the first time in Arabic at Waterstones bookstore at Harrods included international best-selling children’s titles.

Written and illustrated by some of the best-known names in children’s literature, these titles were representative of the innovation that BQFP is bringing to Arabic children’s book publishing.

“At BQFP we translate and publish the best international children’s books so that children in the Arab world can enjoy them, too,” said Seif Salmawy, the managing director of BQFP.

BQFP’s initiative, which aims to make reading in Arabic an enjoyable experience for children, is considered a welcome relief in a region where Arabic children books are often deemed unimaginative, uninspiring or old-fashioned.

Owned by Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development and managed by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, BQFP publishes books of excellence and originality in English and Arabic, including fiction and non-fiction and children’s books.