Speakers

Mrs Karen Leggett Abouraya
Author/Journalist

Biography

Karen Leggett Abouraya is a freelance writer, with experience as a radio broadcaster, children’s book reviewer, and president of the Children’s Book Guild of Washington, D.C. She published her first book with Susan L. Roth in 2012, Hands Around the Library: Protecting Egypt’s Treasured Books. She also wrote the 2014 picture book biography, Malala Yousafzai: Warrior with Words. Karen graduated from Brown University with a B.A. in international relations, and met her Egyptian husband, Tharwat Abouraya, in Washington. Together Karen and Tharwat chair the Friends of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Maryland/D.C./Virginia.

leggett@comcast.net

 

 

Presentation Abstract

Building Literacy and Global Consciousness Through Picture Books 

For a moment in time, they were one. Muslim & Christian, young and old, rich and poor—Egyptians held hands around their cherished Library in Alexandria, protecting it. It was January 2011. That moment of solidarity and support for a cause larger than oneself is captured in the American children’s book Hands Around the Library: Protecting Egypt’s Treasured Books, published in 2012. Picture books can make the complexity of world events manageable and concrete. Author Karen Leggett Abouraya and collage artist Susan L. Roth describe the process of transforming a news story into a picture book, matching words to images, respecting the facts. They discuss the impact of their own visits to American libraries and schools, where children hear the story, discuss their own understanding of civic engagement and sometimes engage with Egyptian children via Skype. They also share examples of activities for children that encourage reading, writing and civic engagement.