Walid Taher facts for kids

Walid Taher is an Egyptian author and artist. He designs children's books and works as a journalist painter. He was born in Cairo, Egypt in 1969. Walid Taher has published over 40 children's books. His book ‘The Black Spot’ won the Etisalat Award. Another book, ‘Seven Souls’, was considered for the Sheikh Zayed Book Award.

About Walid Taher

Walid Taher is an Egyptian author who writes and designs books for children. He is also a plastic artist and a journalist painter. Taher was born in Cairo, Egypt in 1969. He grew up in Ad Doqi before moving to Maadi.

He studied at the Faculty of Fine arts. He specialized in Décor. Walid Taher started his career in the early 1990s. He worked for Sabah Al Khair Magazine before he even graduated. He also worked for other well-known newspapers and groups. These include Al-Dostor Newspaper, Nahdet Misr Newspaper, UNICEF, and the WHO. Today, Taher is a journalist painter for Shorouk News. He is also an artistic director at Dar Al Shorouk.

Writing for Young Readers

Walid Taher began writing children's books in 2001. His first book, ‘My New Friend’, was published by Dar Al Shorouk. This book won second place in a competition held by The Egyptian Board on Books for Young People.

So far, Taher has written more than 40 books for children. Many of his books have won awards. ‘Black Spot’ won the Etisalat Award in 2010. ‘Animals’ Dreams’ won The Annual Arabic Children's Book Award in 2011. This award came from the Anna Lindh Foundation.

Taher does not just write stories for children. He also draws pictures for them. For example, he illustrated ‘The Watermelon’, written by Taghreed Najjar. In 1999, Taher won first place for illustrating ‘The Watermelon’. This was in a competition by The Egyptian Board on Books for Young People.

Sharing Stories Across Cultures

Currently, Taher is working with a French publisher called ‘Le Port a Jauni’. This project aims to create bilingual children's books. These books help children from Arabic and French cultures connect. Through this project, Taher has published books like ‘A country: Voyage without Baggage’ and ‘The Dancers’.

Why His Books Are Special

Walid Taher believes that children learn from their experiences. This is why his books often focus on questions, not just answers. He thinks it's not good for authors to pretend they know everything. He avoids giving children lessons in a boring way.

He feels it's important to involve children in the story. They should interact with the events, characters, or drawings. To do this, he pays close attention to both the story and the pictures in his books.

Art Exhibitions and Workshops

Walid Taher has held six art exhibitions. Four of these were in Egypt and two were in France. His most recent exhibition, "Fades Away," was held in Egypt in 2022.

He also leads many workshops for children. These workshops have taken place in different cities around the world. Some of these cities include Paris, Marseille, Cairo, Dubai, and Munich.

His Books

Walid Taher has written more than 40 books for children. Here are some of them:

• My New Pal (Original title: Sahibi El Jadid), 2001 (ISBN: 9770907308)
• Fizo Is Happy Now (Original title: Fizo Asbaha Saidan), 2003 (ISBN: 13 9789770925096)
• The Black Spot (Original title: Al-Noqta Al-Soda), 2009 (ISBN: 13 9789770926115)
• My Beautiful Letters (Original title: Horoufy Al-Gamila), 2010
• Animals’ Dreams (Original title: Ahlam Al-Hayawanat), 2010

Awards and Recognition

Here are some of the awards Walid Taher has received:

• 2001: Egyptian Board on Books for Young People Competition for Professionals (second place) for ‘My New Pal’.
• 2010: Etisalat Award for ‘The Black Spot’.
• 2011: The Annual Arabic Children's Book Award from the Anna Lindh Foundation for ‘Animals’ Dreams’.

Special Nominations

• ‘Seven Souls’ was longlisted for the Sheikh Zayed Award – Children and Young People's Literature and Translation Section (2012).
• ‘The Island of Sailor Barakat’ was nominated for the Etisalat Award- Best Direction Section (2019).