17-year-old launches IKRAA, a bilingual app that encourages children to read through goals and rewards.
Dubai: Like many children her age, Rakan would rather spend time on his tablet than pick up a book. His parents tried to encourage him to read, but it often took repeated reminders, and reading was rarely an activity he chose for himself.
Watching her younger brother struggle to develop a reading habit gave 17-year-old Maya Lotfy an idea. What if reading could be made as engaging and rewarding as the screen time children naturally gravitated towards?
Instead of simply reminding him to read, the Grade 12 student at the American School of Dubai decided to develop a solution herself.
The result is IKRAA, a bilingual Arabic-English reading platform that allows children to track their reading, set goals and earn rewards as they make progress.
“It made me wonder why reading had to feel like a chore when it could be something children looked forward to. That’s where the idea for IKRAA came from. I wanted to find a way to make reading feel rewarding and exciting instead of like another task,” Maya told Gulf News.
From a family challenge to a bigger idea
Born and raised in Dubai, Maya, who is of Egyptian and Palestinian heritage, realised that her brother’s reluctance to read was not necessarily because he struggled with books or disliked stories.
The bigger challenge was motivating him to pick up a book, particularly when tablets, games and other activities offered more immediate entertainment.
“I realised that a lot of children probably experience the same thing, especially when there are so many other things competing for their attention,” she said.
For Maya, the issue extended beyond encouraging children to read more. She wanted them to understand the value of reading, particularly as they progressed through school. She believes reading helps develop imagination, confidence and comprehension, while exposing children to different perspectives.
Her involvement with Room to Read, a global non-profit organisation focused on improving childhood literacy and gender equality in education, further strengthened that belief.
“That showed me how easily we can take access to books and education for granted. Knowing that some children don’t have the same opportunities has made me appreciate reading even more. To me, it’s not just about finishing a book, it’s about everything that reading can open up for someone.”
Turning screen time into reading time
Although Maya had little experience in app development, she saw an opportunity to use children’s familiarity with technology to encourage a different habit.
“I knew I could keep reminding my brother to read, but I wanted to create something that would motivate him without needing someone constantly telling him what to do.”
Rather than viewing technology purely as a distraction, she wanted to make it part of the solution.
“I liked the idea of turning a small problem I noticed at home into something that could potentially help other families too,” she said.
Her goal was straightforward: make reading feel less like homework and more like an activity children choose to enjoy.
“Reading also takes patience, and the benefits aren’t always immediately obvious. I’m trying to make that progress more visible. By allowing children to track their reading, work towards goals, and earn rewards, I hope they begin to associate reading with a sense of achievement rather than something they have to do.”
How IKRAA turns reading into rewards
IKRAA allows parents to set reading targets for their children, such as reading for 30 minutes a day, five days a week.
Children can then log the time they spend reading and earn credits as they meet their targets. These credits accumulate, allowing them to save towards bigger rewards or redeem smaller ones along the way.
Parents or teachers can agree on incentives with children, ranging from extra screen time to other rewards they would enjoy.
“I chose this approach because I think children respond well to having something to work towards. Eventually, my hope is that the reward becomes less important because they’ve started to genuinely enjoy reading itself. The rewards are really just a starting point to help build that habit.”
Learning to build an app from scratch
With limited experience in app development, Maya turned to Glide, a no-code, AI-powered platform, to create IKRAA.
“Since I didn’t have much experience creating apps, I had to learn a lot along the way, from designing the layout to figuring out how to make the different features work.”
The process involved considerable trial and error. One of her biggest challenges has been getting the app listed on Apple’s App Store. That process is still under way, but IKRAA is already available to explore through its website, ikraa.ae.
Why Arabic was just as important as English
Making IKRAA bilingual was central to Maya’s vision of creating a platform that could appeal to a wider range of families.
“Growing up in Dubai, I’ve always been surrounded by people who speak different languages, and I know how important it is for children to feel comfortable reading in the language they connect with. Arabic is also a big part of my own background, so I didn’t want IKRAA to be limited to English.”
By offering content and features in both Arabic and English, she hopes to help children strengthen their reading skills in the language they feel most comfortable using.
Success is more than downloads
What began as an effort to encourage her younger brother to read has grown into an ambition to bring IKRAA into more homes and, eventually, schools.
“What means the most to me is knowing that IKRAA has the potential to make a difference beyond my own home. I’d love to see more families and schools using it, and eventually expand its features to make reading even more engaging,” Maya said.
For the 17-year-old, however, success is not measured by download figures or the number of users on the platform.
“For me, success wouldn’t just be about how many people download the app. It would be knowing that even one child who previously disliked reading has started picking up books because they genuinely want to.”
