He can sing and snore, is a globe-trotter and a story-teller; that’s why the camel is still the most sought after Arabian souvenir.

He sports a fantastic sombrero and blanket from Mexico and a perfectly fit shirt from the Philippines. He is definitely well-loved and it’s beginning to show in the wear and tear of the poor little guy. This is Eddie, who is ‘different’ as he has seen more of the world then any other camel we know! His companion Camela has a lovely scarf knit by one of the class children’s moms. 

This is a scene straight from a classroom assignment for three-year-olds, featuring — you guessed it — camels!

From fridge magnets to cuddly toys, to wooden carvings and camel pot stands — all are widely available as souvenirs and are great as novelty gifts.

But the camel is not just any motif in the UAE. It has played its part and has travelled far and wide, too. Monique Gagnon, a teacher at the Children’s Garden came up with the idea of Eddie the Camel to create a project that the children could share with their parents and family. It teaches responsibility, and it encourages children to recollect past experiences and to share their adventures with their classmates.

“One day, my 16-year-old niece was reminiscing about a class mascot she had in grade school that travelled around with each student; I thought it was such a fantastic idea and why couldn’t three-year-olds do it as well?  With a little help from their parents we could create a wonderful book of memories.  Considering our class is full of different nationalities, I thought this project would be a window into the interesting lives and adventures of families from all over the world,” she says.

The Camel Company was set up five years ago after spotting a gap in the market for design-led heritage, camel-based gifts and souvenirs at affordable prices.

Aimed mainly at European visitors, but also appealing to Dubai residents and locals,  Camel Company is a “one stop shop for camels” of all shapes, sizes and colours. “We decided to focus only on camel products, because the camel is the nation’s favourite animal and the main icon for the Middle East. What do most visitors think about when they imagine the desert and Arabs?  Everyone who visits Dubai wants to take a soft cuddly camel home with them. It’s like kangaroos and Australia!” says Helen Hobart, managing partner of Camel Company.

For Sabine Moser, who wrote a series of books on a camel called Camel-o-Shy and ventured into its merchandise after the book gained success, says, “It began when I lived in Dubai and was looking for some souvenirs to bring back home to Austria... I was looking for ‘camels’ or books about camels because it’s a character you immediately connect with Dubai and the desert.”

But because she couldn’t find the quality that she was looking for and found that the books were mostly imported from UK and had nothing to do with Dubai and the desert, she started writing her own books.

“I also noticed that that they sang songs about the jungle in the kindergarten my daughter Ricarda attended — and I wondered why they learn so much about these animals instead of the surroundings where they lived at the moment. That’s the idea of my second book Give it a try, Camel-O-Shy,” Sabine points out.

Monique chose the camel as her classroom mascot for obvious reasons, too. “The children seemed interested by this animal.  Most of the children in my class were from other countries where camels are found only in zoos, so when they see them on the side of the roads and out in the desert around Dubai, camels become fascinating to them,” she says.

One day, while having a coffee in Souk Madinat Jumeirah, Helen was approached by a group of Japanese visitors looking for the special camel shop they had read about in the Lonely Planet Guide and they had travelled specially to visit. “‘Could you help us find it?’ they asked me. It turned out to be our shop!  They thanked me for my help and referred to me as the nice camel lady!” laughs Helen.

How about gifting a cake with the Dubai theme to a new mommy? “There’s no better way to welcome a little one to the world and life of Dubai than with a Dubai Camel cake,” says Bethany T of Dubai Diaper Cakes. This special cake is topped with our favourite — the camel. “A camel represents Dubai. And it’s a lovely gift to give a newborn in Dubai.”

One of the best sights in Dubai used to be camels being driven across the road at Nad Al Sheba early in the morning by their trainers in a kanduora. Sadly, this can no longer be seen, unless you travel further out to the new camel race course on Al Ain Road. “I remember seeing this cute sight once,” says Helen. “It was memorable to see a curious young camel investigating a camel crossing sign! Would he venture across the road or not?”

In 2004, Sabine did a lot of presentations and book readings for her first Camel-o-Shy book. “Once I had been invited to the Rashid School for Boys. I presented the story in all the classes from KG to high school. I usually read the story and at the end my Camel-O-Shy puppets come into action — always the children’s favourite thing! When I went to the high school class I thought it would be too childish for them to do the story with the puppet, so I presented how a book is made, the different steps from sketch to print. When I left the classroom a teacher followed me and told me that the pupils were missing the puppet, as the children from the other grades were talking about it. So, I had to return and do the puppet show for these teenagers as well!” recalls Sabine.

The Children’s Garden encourages the children to take Eddie anywhere that they go, a trip to the store is fun for Eddie as it is to the park.  However, it was soon found that Eddie would become quite the globe-trotter!  His first big trip was to Mexico, then to the Philippines. He’s been to Egypt twice and has flown in the cockpit three times with some of the fathers who are pilots; one dad even took him sight seeing in Australia on his own! 

He has been to Qatar, Oman, and to Canada.  Not only are his trips documented in his journal with photos, he also has many stamps from customs officers around the world, who think it’s pretty funny to stamp a passport of a stuffed camel.

With one child, Eddie even found a friend at ballet lessons, Camela, wearing a tutu who soon joined the travels, too.  However, all these big trips aside, Eddie is a regular visitor to the Burj, he has been skiing at Mall of the Emirates many times, and he enjoys going to the nail salon with the girls!

“I am most surprised by the response from parents who actually look forward to their turn to take Eddie on a new adventure. The creative journal entries, full of stickers, colour, and photos, have been wonderful to share with the class. Some parents even approach me early in the year to book their week with Eddie for  travelling!” says Monique.

Camel Company has a huge collection of soft toys. The best picks are  cool camel sun shades for kids, mirror compacts for mum and drink stirrers for dad.

The stuffed camel is a continuing motif in Dubai but the real secret of its success according to Monique is,  “Camels always seem to be smiling, and who doesn’t smile back? That’s one reason why they are so popular.”