Canon Middle East launches Hakawaty to inspire, entertain children

Canon Middle East has launched a new platform, Hakawaty, which brings captivating stories narrated by Hakawatis to kids across the middle east.

The platform, which is meant for Arabic storytelling, hopes to bring life to fables, legends and tales of kings and warriors, thereby entertaining the kids and keeping them all at bay.

Hakawaty is even more pertinent for the region, where there is an increased aspiration to popularize Arabic among the younger generation, more so as many young ones speak English at home and are not familiar with stories of yore, from the region and by the region’ storytellers.

It will also complement the efforts across the region to promote Arabic skills among students, as they become more familiar with the stories from Arab literature, and are inspired not just to share them but also narrate the stories and continue the tradition of storytelling.

Hakawaty is aimed at fostering in children love for the written word and the fine art of narrating stories, and features a catalogue of Arabic short stories for children below the age of 10.

Mai Youssef, Corporate Communications & Marketing Services Director, ‎Canon Middle East and Central and North Africa, said, “Storytelling is at the heart of the Arab heritage. Now, with more people spending more time at home and with the advent of the Holy Month of Ramadan, we see Hakawaty as an ideal platform to inspire children through compelling stories narrated by expert storytellers.”

He added that “The diversity of themes, settings and characters that Hakawaty will present will further strengthen a love for literature in children. We will continue to build Hakawaty over the coming months and create a strong digital bank of Arabic stories that will celebrate the richness of Arabic literature and the proud tradition of story-telling.”