“The book is about An Egyptian-Armenian cultural project to introduce Arab children to Armenian culture” - said Mohamed Mandour.
Recently, “Habi” Publishing House published the children’s book titled “Hayk’s Game” written by Mohamed Mandour, and it will be available at the upcoming Cairo International Book Fair.
The story's illustrations were carried out by the famous Armenian children's illustrator Naira Aharonian, as part of a joint cultural project with the Egyptian writer Mohamed Mandour.
The project includes a series of children's stories with the aim to spread Armenian culture and support cultural communication between Arab and Armenian children.
The events of the series revolve around the character of an Armenian child named Hayk. Second and third series of the book will be published in 2024. The book series are printed under the auspices of the Armenian Orthodox Patriarchate in Egypt.
The events of the first story of the series revolve around the story of “Hayk’s Game”, an Armenian child living in diaspora, who wishes to visit and see the country of his ancestors. From the stories shared by his parents and grandmother, Hayk depicted pictures of his country, and within the events that take place during the trips, Hayk takes off with his magical toy and travels around the country in the blink of an eye to the touristic, cultural and natural attractions of Armenia. Hayk's travels, takes the reader between the Valley of Flowers, Dilijan, Yerevan, and the mountains and churches of Armenia, to introduce Arab children to Armenian culture.
In one of the stories Hayk show-casts a model of religious tolerance and passion that prompted His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Ruler of the Emirate of Sharjah and Member of the Supreme Council of the UAE, to donate for the restoration of an old church in Armenia, after which it turned into a tourist attraction that exists to this day.
This gesture, strengthened cultural relations between the Emirate of Sharjah and Armenia to this day.
The author of the story, Muhammad Mandour says, “This story is indeed a fact and I mentioned it within the context of the story in order to convey the message of tolerance and love to the children. What His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah did is a model of tolerance between Muslims and Christians, and it is recorded in front of the Dilijan Church, in 3 languages, English, Arabic, and Armenian.
Muhammad Mandour adds, “Hayk’s journey in the country of his ancestors represents the dream of every diaspora child of different nationalities. Everyone dreams of returning to his motherland. The taste of the homeland is not comparable to living abroad, no matter how sweet it is.”
It is noteworthy that Muhammad Mandour has published several books and peer-reviewed scientific research, and his books include the book “The Story of the Coins of Egypt and Sudan” issued by the General Authority for Cultural Palaces in Egypt 2014, the book “The Religion of Cairo” by the Egyptian Knowledge House 2016, and the book “Symphony of Humans and Stone” by Dar Batana. 2017. He also served as the media advisor to the Ministry of Culture and the official spokesman between 2015 and 2016. He was also appointed as a member of the Youth Committee of the Supreme Council of Culture in Egypt during the period from 2016 to 2019 AD.
He was a member of the jury for the Youth Cultural Initiatives Award at the Cairo International Book Fair during the years 2016 and 2017, and a member of a number of technical and scientific committees for several cultural conferences.
Hayk’s Game
Hayk’s Game
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