The collection of short stories for children, “My Beloved Emirati,” includes 12 short stories for ages ranging from 2 to 13 years
Latifa Al-Hajj was keen to choose simple words, focusing on social issues and behaviors that should be paid attention to and educate children about, such as respect for others, kindness to animals, and appreciation of the country’s flag. I also presented, through some stories, the importance of every child having an independent personality based on confidence and pride in the advantages God has given him.
This is Latifa Al-Hajj’s first experience in writing children’s literature after her story “The Pigeon Lamp” was approved in the Arabic language curriculum for the tenth grade at the Ministry of Education in the UAE.
From a meeting between Mihai, who is spending his honeymoon in Italy, with an old friend, the events of this novel begin. He soon finds himself leaving his wife at a train station, and begins his own journey, searching for himself and the memories of his youth. Traveling from one city to another, Mihai experiences the anxiety of his existential questions, and meets friends of that period. He learns the reason for Tamas’ suicide, and Eva’s relationship to this incident, but what does he really want from recalling stories told by time?
In this novel, which is considered one of the most prominent Hungarian novels in the modern era, which achieved great success, was translated into several languages, and was adapted for theater and cinema, the reader feels as if the author is able to penetrate his depths, and not only the depths of his characters.
