Children’s Literature in English Language Education 13.1 (2025) https://clelejournal.org/ ISSN 2195-5212 i Child Empowerment and Safeguarding in the UAE: The Role of Picturebooks for Emirati Children Sarah L. Nesti Willard and Fawzia Gilani-Williams Abstract This paper presents a reflective ethnography documenting the creation and use of picturebooks in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), aimed at supporting the safeguarding of children within English Language Teaching (ELT) contexts for primary and lower secondary students. It explores the collaboration between an author and an illustrator in developing books that align with the principles of Wadeema’s Law, the Child Protection Law of 2016. These picturebooks are designed to safeguard children’s psychological and emotional well-being, facilitate bibliotherapy, and promote learning across curricula. They serve as informational, inspirational, and discussion texts that contribute to raising awareness of child rights, particularly in the context of Emirati culture and values. Our paper discusses five picturebooks, one of which was published by the UAE Ministry of Community Development. Through this collaborative ethnography, the study focuses on the development, content, and implementation of these books as pedagogical tools to foster discussions on child safeguarding and support the broader objectives of child protection in the UAE. Keywords: Bibliotherapy, Child Protection Law, Emirati children’s literature, safeguarding, Wadeema’s Law Sarah L. Nesti Willard is Coordinator of Visual Studies and Creative Industries, Department of Media, United Arab Emirates University, UAE. She is also a children’s picturebook illustrator and muralist. Dr Fawzia Gilani-Williams is a scholar of Islamic children’s literature with international experience in K-12 education as a district librarian. She is also a children’s author and children’s editor for the Eid Stories Institute for Literary Studies and Peace Research in the UK.