TEHRAN-On the occasion of the National Children’s Day in Iran, October 8, Tehran-based French writer and illustrator of children’s books Claire Joubert was honored at a ceremony titled “The Lady of Color and Story” in Mashhad, Khorasan Razavi Province.

At the ceremony, held at the Central Library of Astan Quds Razavi, the latest work of Joubert, which is a 4-volume collection titled “Tales of Papapa” published by Behnashr Publishing House, was unveiled, Mehr reported on Monday.

The collection, having children younger than nine years old as its target audience, teaches children about moral issues in the form of sweet stories.

“When I was a child, I read a lot and I enjoyed reading books. My passion for reading books and the experiences I gained indirectly from the books enriched my life. Therefore, when I grew up, I decided to transfer the joy I experienced to other children through writing fiction works for them,” Joubert said at the ceremony.

Most of Joubert’s works are written for children in the fields of religious subjects. “In my works, I have tried to express the religious concepts that made my life more beautiful to children,” she explained.

Joubert was born in Paris in May 1961. She was brought up in a Christian family. She converted to Islam at the age of nineteen and immigrated to Iran when she got married. She has a bachelor’s degree in educational sciences.

She illustrates her stories herself. With a cursory look at her works, one can easily perceive her preoccupation with issues such as faith and religion, identity, children’s relations with their surroundings, etc. Most of the writer’s works are for primary school-age children.

She is also interested in doing research on children’s literature and philosophy for children. She writes both in Persian and French and has published some French books in Lebanon and France, but her preference is to write in Persian.

Joubert has written several books in Persian, including “In Search of God”, “God’s Cookies”, “Goodbye, Old Raccoon”, “The Little Mouse’s Prayer”, “The Stories of the Little Green Lizard” and “The Most Trustworthy Friend”.

Also speaking at the event, the deputy of Research and Development at Behnashr Publishing House, said: “Humility, kindness and belief in spirituality are important moral characteristics of Claire Joubert, which made her a well-known writer among children". 

“She has written about 120 works for children, which have been published by various publishers in Iran,” Mehdi Ferdowsi noted. “Her works deal with axiology, ethnology, anthropology, and mythology. Ethics and trustworthiness, forgiveness, envy, selfishness, and suspicion are among the subjects of her stories”.

SS/