TEHRAN-The children’s book “The Sun in the Turkmen Sahra” written by Yousef Qoujaq and illustrated by Najla Mahdavi-Ashraf has been published by the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children & Young Adults.

For her illustrations of the book, Mahdavi-Ashraf was one of the finalists of the 58th edition of the Illustrators Exhibition of the Bologna Children's Book Fair, Mehr reported.

The exhibition received submissions from 35,20 artists from 81 countries and territories. The International Jury shortlisted 344 finalists.

The story is told by Aylar, a carpet weaver girl in a Turkmen village, who creates patterns on a carpet. The fiction book, for children above 9 years old, contains themes of gratitude and truthfulness.

The Bologna Children's Book Fair is deeply committed to building bridges between countries and cultures, pursuing the only, single, important objective of promoting the quality of children's illustration and literature, and providing space for dialogue and the exchange of experiences.

SS/SAB