Dar al-Fata al-Arabi: A look at the first Arab publishing house dedicated to children

The Naksa, or the Arab defeat against Israel in 1967, led to the exodus of more than 300,000 Palestinians and a new self reckoning on the cultural future of the Arab world.

Meaning "the setback" in English, the catastrophic defeat of the Jordanian, Syrian, and Egyptian armies sent the region's intellectuals back to the cultural drawing board.

For the sculptors Mona Saudi from Jordan and Kamel Boullata from Palestine, the answer lay in future generations.

In 1974, with a group of intellectuals based in a Beirut apartment, they took the wild gamble of creating an independent publishing house “for Arab children, by Arab authors who contribute to writing the history of tomorrow”.

They started with a dual objective of transmitting Arab heritage and identity to new generations and broadening the cultural horizons of Arab youths.

The team built up around a host of artists, writers and multinational experts, particularly Palestinians.

Protagonists included Nabil Shaath, who would later become the prime minister of palestine after the Oslo Accords, as the head of the Palestinian Education Planning Department; the Palestinian writer Abu Fadi, as director; the Egyptian editor Ima'il Abdel Hakim Bakr, in charge of the general management; the Palestinian poet Zayn al-Abidine al-Huseini, as sub editor; and the Palestinian academic Nabila Salbak Barir, as editor-in-chief.

After eight months of tireless work, the dream came true. Dar al-Fata al-Arabi came into existence at the 18th Arab Book Fair in Beirut with an initial list of 66 books.

The gamble had paid off and success was dazzling.

A year later, Dar al-Fata took part in a number of book fairs in the Middle East, North Africa and Europe, including international fairs in Cairo, Beirut, Damascus and Tunis; the Bratislava Biennale of Illustration and the Bologna Children's Book Fair.

Literally "the house of the Arab child", Dar al-Fata became one of the most influential Arab institutions in the field of education and children's literature, both for its avant-gardism and the outstanding quantity and variety of its publications.

Dar al-Fata al-Arabi eventually became the foremost institution for children's literature in the Arab world, exhibiting its books at the most prestigious literary gatherings.

It won multiple awards, including the Leipzig Book Fair Prize in 1982 for Ouda al-Ta'ir ("The Return of the Bird") by Mo'een Bissesso, illustrated by Higazi.

The name of the publishing house comes from a verse by the 10th century Iraqi poet al-Mutannabi mentioning "the young Arab whose face, hand and tongue have become foreign".

Editors at Dar al-Fata believed in the cognitive and emotional capacity of the child. Through the fictional and real heroes who appeared in their books, they hoped to instil in their readers, a sense of duty and morality, making them responsible and conscious citizens.

Dar al-Fata also offered its reader a physical object of great artistic quality and humanist values.

Ellabbad and Tamer, the winning duo

Egyptian illustrator Mohieddine Ellabbad was one of the most important figures involved in Dar al-Fata al-Arabi's success and he helped to imbue it with a contemporary vision of Arab culture and art.

After finishing his studies at the Cairo School of Fine Arts, Ellabbad began illustrating books Dar al-Fata produced and was in charge of its artistic direction.

Throughout his career, his books and albums drew their inspiration from Arab cultural heritage, marrying tradition with modernity.

Syrian author Zakariya Tamer began his writing career as a freelance journalist before before producing satirical columns in pan-Arab newspapers, such as Al-Quds al-Arabi, which was based in London, and the Syria-based Al-Thawra.

It was through his work with Dar al-Fata, however, that he made his name.