Sariya and the Turtles

‘Sariya and the Turtles’ tells the story of a young girl and her parents. By the light of the moon, Sariya sees a mama sea turtle laying her eggs on the sand. In the morning, the baby hatchlings scamper down the beach towards the ocean. But dangers are lurking nearby.

Will Sariya be able to save the baby hatchlings from hungry predators?

Old fishing nets, plastic bags and rubbish litter the beaches and make their way into the sea, threatening the turtles’ habitat.

How can Sariya help protect the sea turtles’ home?

Author Jane Jaffer says she was inspired to write the story after visiting the Ras Al Jinz Turtle Reserve with her granddaughter, Sariya, and family. “It was amazing to witness the green turtles nesting there. The book helps children learn about these amazing creatures. Five of the seven species of sea turtles can be found in the seas around Oman’s coastline. The aim of the book is to educate children about sea turtles and make them aware of the dangers that turtles and other marine creatures are facing,” she explains.

Two talented 11-year-old students from the Sultan’s School, Lubna Al Adawi and Mohamed Raed Dawood spent many hours after school, working with their art teacher, Heather Ford, to create the colourful illustrations for the hardback book. Talking about their joint effort, Heather Ford said, “I’d like to congratulate Jane on writing this book. It is an endearing tale with such a strong message. Mohamed and Lubna worked really well together, and the illustrations they produced are beautiful. I am so proud of them and I’d like to thank Jane for giving Mohamed and Lubna this wonderful opportunity”.

Mohamed Raed Dawood commented, “It was a great opportunity for us to illustrate the pictures for ‘Sariya and the Turtles’. It was an amazing experience and I am so proud of myself”. Reiterating similar sentiments, Lubna Al Adawi said, “This experience gave me a lot of confidence. It taught me how to become a better artist and not to doubt myself. I also must say I couldn’t have done this alone. Mohamed was such a good partner. My teacher, Ms Heather Ford, was always there for us. It is really such a shame knowing that many turtles are dying because of how much plastic we throw away. I hope people will learn from this book and start to actually care about our environment”.

Following the book launch on 10^th March, the book will be for sale in the Let’s Read Charity Book Shop in the Al Qurum Complex.

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