Queen Rania Narrates Story for Mother's Day and Announces New Contest

(Office of Her Majesty, Press Department – Amman) Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah often speaks of how much she enjoys spending quality time with children, so it was no surprise to any of the 40 young students gathered at the Children’s Museum of Jordan to have the Queen there to narrate her own story, Wednesday, in celebration of Mother’s Day.

Queen Rania joined a mother and a grandmother from Irbid and Salt, both deemed cultural capitals in 2007 and 2008, respectively, to read to the assembled youngsters, and celebrate Mother’s Day.

The children drew closely around the Queen to hear her narrate Eternal Beauty, Queen Rania’s second children’s book, which she wrote especially for this occasion. As she held up the bright pages illustrating the colorful characters, children greeted them with wide eyed anticipation. The story tells of a young girl’s conversation with a little sheep as she searches for the most beautiful thing in the world. The young girl soon discovers that the most beautiful thing is a mother’s love for her children – an eternal love that surpasses everything else. 

The young listeners, all dressed in traditional Jordanian outfits, reflecting their regional backgrounds, enjoyed the special story telling hour that also included narrations from the mother and grandmother in attendance.

“It was fun hearing these stories,” said one of the children, “It reminded me of my mother and how happy she is to see me when I come home from school… I wish I had a talking sheep, too!”

After reading her story, Queen Rania joined Mayor Omar Ma’ani of Amman in announcing the municipality’s newest contest – Mama’s Story. A joint effort between the Greater Amman Municipality, the ministries of culture and education, the municipalities of Salt and Irbid, and several local universities, Mama’s Story will encourage mothers and grandmothers to document the stories they narrate to their children and grandchildren to keep Jordan’s oral traditions alive.

Jordan Post will facilitate the collection of stories, which will all be evaluated and edited by a professional committee. The contest, which will run for one year, will culminate in the creation of one booklet which will preserve different cultural stories told by mothers all over Jordan.

Mother’s Day is celebrated in Jordan on March 21, the first day of Spring. The children had designed and decorated cards for their own mothers.