Listen to the tale of The Very Hungry Caterpillar in Arabic at Fulwood Library

The session for classic British children’s stories to be told in Arabic will run for half an hour.

Ayesha Rafiq, who runs the sessions, said: “My kids love reading so that’s why I decided to start the sessions. We’ve been going for about five months now.

“There’s so many different nationalities living in Preston and we really want to build up the community. We have white British families coming and it doesn’t matter that they don’t understand the language, they pick up something. They don’t have to understand the words to enjoy the book.”

The Very Hungry Caterpillar features a caterpillar who eats his way through a wide variety of food before going to sleep in a chrysalis and emerging as a beautiful butterfly.

It has sold 30 million copies worldwide and is the winner of many children’s literature awards. It has been described as “one of the greatest childhood classics of all time” and has sold the equivalent of one copy per minute since its publication 49 years ago.

County coun Peter Buckley said: “This session started in response to a request from the local community. The group gives local people an opportunity to socialise, and to make new friends.

“It also allows parents to maintain Arabic with their young children, to help to make sure that the language isn’t lost for them.”

This event is free, tickets are not required. It takes place at Fulwood Library in Garstang Road today - Wednesday between 2pm and 2.30pm.