Introduction
Highlighting Arabs’ rich and multi-layered culture and history, Dar al-Fata encouraged its writers and artists to unleash their creativity, to dig deep into folkloric, classical and pop-culture, and to combine images, sources, mediums and formats. Often, the result was the production of stunning graphics and texts! The nascent publishing house was staffed with a generation of Arab illustrators and authors who broke new grounds in the practice of publishing children’s books. Prominent authors such as Zakariya Tamer, Sun'allah Inrahim, Mu'in Bsiso and Ghassan Kanafani joined forces with artists like Mohieddine al-Labbad, Helmi el-Touni, Burhan Karkoutli, Leila al-Shawwa, Bahgat Othman and Hijazi. The result was a plethora of beautiful books that actively engaged readers in creative ways, and used different mediums and formats such as posters, folded books, and small hand-books; cut-out, aquarelle, collage, silk screen, etc .. The books taught progressive values, and sought to revolutionize both the entire tradition of Arabic children book publishing, as well as the children who read the books.