Title of the work
Country of the First Edition
Country/countries of popularity
Original Language
First Edition Date
First Edition Details
Shlomo Abbas, Me Izopus ad Harambam. Hod Hsharon: Agur Publishing, 2013, 115 pp.
Genre
Didactic fiction
Fables
Illustrated works
Target Audience
Children
Cover
We are still trying to obtain permission for posting the original cover.
Author of the Entry:
Ayelet Peer, Bar-Ilan University, ayelet.peer@gmail.com
Peer-reviewer of the Entry:
Lisa Maurice, Bar-Ilan University, mauril68@gmail.com
Elzbieta Olechowska, University of Warsaw, elzbieta.olechowska@gmail.com
Picture taken from the author’s website (accessed: July 5, 2018), courtesy of Araian Abbas.
Shlomo Abbas
, b. 1948
(Author)
Shlomo Abbas is one of the leading and most prolific children’s authors in Israel. He wrote and edited about 170 books. He was born in Nesher, in the northern of Israel and later moved to Jerusalem. He studied anthropology at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Beside his original literary contributions, Shlomo travels the world in order to gather local tales from different countries. He collected and edited many volumes of fairy tales and fables, local and from around the world, like the fables of the brothers Grim and Greek mythology.
Sources:
Official website (accessed: July 5, 2018).
Profile at the library.osu.edu (accessed: July 5, 2018).
Bio prepared by Ayelet Peer, Bar-Ilan University, ayelet.peer@gmail.com
Doron Sohari Shemesh
, 1976 - 2016
(Artist, Illustrator)
Doron was an illustrator, a painter and graphic designer. She graduated from the NB Haifa School of Design.
Bio prepared by Ayelet Peer, Bar Ilan University, ayelet.peer@gmail.com
Summary
This book is a collection of famous stories from Greek mythology, aiming to make young readers acquainted with other cultures.
Analysis
The book offers various fables, half from Aesop and the other half from several Jewish sources. The fables adapted in this book are short and especially suitable for young children. The emphasis is on the moral of the story. This volume is a part of the "exemplary literature" ("sifrut mofet") series, which aims to reveal to the young Israeli reader various stories from the pinnacle of local and world literature. According to an interview I had with the author (November 2016)*, he thinks that while Greek mythology stories form a significant part of the Western cultural heritage, they are less effective for children. On the other hand, fables are shorter, at times funny, and always relevant to modern readers.
* A telephone interview between Ayelet Peer and Shlomo Abas from November 2016.
