Children's Literature in Israel

Israel’s Children’s Literature : 

Israel’s Children’s Literature Rachel Gross April 6, 2009

Some background info… : 

Some background info… Continent: Asia Population: 7.37 million Capital: Jerusalem Official Languages: Hebrew and Arabic Religion: Jewish 81% Muslim 15% Christian 2% Other 2% Literacy Rate: 97.1 School is mandatory from age 6 to 16 and free to age 18 National military service is mandatory for Jewish and Druze men and Jewish women over the age of 18 exceptions may be made on religious, physical or psychological grounds

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict : 

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Since it was founded in 1948 there have been a series of wars between Israelis and Palestinians, as well as with other Arab countries. Israel’s boundaries and right to exist have been disputed, even until today. Israel has peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan.

Pnina Moed Kass : 

Pnina Moed Kass Born in Antwerp, Belgium Currently lives and works in Israel Writer and educator International Reading Association Award for Best Young-Adult Short Story; Sydney Taylor Award, 2004, for Real Time. “These events are an overwhelming presence in my life and lives of those around me.”

Anna Yaphe Levine : 

Anna Yaphe Levine Lived in Israel for over 20 years Freefall: Sydney Taylor Book Award for teen readers Jodie’s Hanukkah Dig: Notable Book for Younger Readers from the Sydney Taylor Committee http://annalevine.org/index.htm “Do I edit my books for an American audience. That's a good question. I am aware that I'm writing for an American audience and not an Israeli one, however, since I've been living here for so long sometimes "Israeli-isms" slip in. That's when my editor catches me.”

Naomi Shihab Nye : 

Naomi Shihab Nye Born in Missouri to a Palestinian father and American mother Attended high school in Israel– currently lives in the U.S. Writer and poet four Pushcart Prizes, the Jane Addams Children's Book award, the Paterson Poetry Prize, and many notable book and best book citations from the American Library Association http://godlas.myweb.uga.edu/shihabnye.html

Daniella Carmi : 

Daniella Carmi Born in Tel Aviv- studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Writes drama, screenplays, and books for adults and children Samir and Yonatan - was awarded: an Honorable Mention from UNESCO for Children's and Young People's Literature in the Service of Tolerance (1997) the Berlin Prize for Best Children's Book in Translation (1997) the Silver Quill Award (Germany, 1997) the Batchelder Award for Best Translated Book by the American Library Association (2001) the Italian WIZO Prize (2003) IBBY Honor List

Alona Frankel : 

Alona Frankel Born in Poland and hid throughout the Holocaust, moved to Israel in 1949 Her son said she is the “Dr. Seuss of Israel” Children books illustrator and author Wrote Once Upon a Potty Joshua (boy) and Prudence (girl) for her son: 1980: translated to English- have sold over 5,000,000 copies in the U.S. alone They were listed as No. 1 (His) and No. 3 (Hers) in Publisher Weekly’s all-time best-selling Hardcover Childcare charts Featured in the 1982 Honor List for IBBY http://www.alonafrankel.com/

Uri Orlev : 

Uri Orlev Born in Poland- Holocaust survivor. Moved to Israel after the war Has published over 30 books some are biographical have been translated from Hebrew into 38 languages 1996: Received the Hans Christian Andersen Award Run Boy Run: Batchelder Award

Tami Lehman-Wilzig : 

Tami Lehman-Wilzig Children’s book author, cookbook author, and one of Israel’s leading English Language advertising copywriters Keeping the Promise received an International Reading Association (IRA) Teacher’s Choice Award http://www.tlwkidsbooks.com/index.php?page_id=27

Levin Kipnis : 

Levin Kipnis IBBY- prominent author for children one of the first authors to write in Hebrew taught at the Levinsky Teachers' College in Tel Aviv Wrote over 800 stories, 600 poems, and 100 books in his lifetime Awarded the Israel Prize

Publishers : 

Publishers Institute For The Translation Of Hebrew Literature: promote Hebrew literature and children’s literature in translation Schocken Publishing House Ltd.: publish Hebrew and world literature, fiction and non-fiction, Israeli politics, social science, economics, sociology, political science, law, philosophy, history, Jewish studies, Zionism, and children's books Keter Publishing House: Leading publishers in Hebrew picture books for children HaKibbutz haMeuchad Publishing House Gefen Publishing House: Jewish and Israeli books Kinneret Zmora Bitan Dvir Publishers: youth books By law, the Jewish National and University Library of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem receives two copies of each book published in Israel. http://www.publishersglobal.com/directory/publishers-by-subject-and-country.asp

Awards : 

Awards Sydney Taylor Book Award: Given by the Association of American Jewish Libraries recognizes the best in Jewish children's literature Medals are awarded annually for outstanding books that authentically portray the Jewish experience The Israel Museum Ben-Yitzhak Award (Israel) Awarded biannually by the Israel Museum in Jerusalem to the illustrators of the most distinguished books for children published in Israel Jewish National Book Award which is given out by the Jewish Book Council “Your letter comes at a very interesting moment because just yesterday Pnina Kass, author of Real Time, wrote to mentioning that the awards given by the Jewish Institutions are never mentioned anywhere in the secular presses. It's as if only the committee and the recipient know.”