Alona Frankel ( he, אלונה פרנקל, 27 June 1937) is a Polish-born Israeli writer and illustrator of many classic

children's books A child (plural, : children) is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers ...

as well as recently published poetic memoirs for young adults. She was born in Kraków, Poland, and is a

Holocaust survivor Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and its allies before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no universally accep ...

. In 1949, Alona immigrated to Israel.

Biography

Alona Frankel was born in 1937 in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

, Poland, and spent her childhood during the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

in the

Lwów Ghetto , location = Lwów, Zamarstynów(German-occupied Poland) , date = 8 November 1941 to June 1943 , incident_type = Imprisonment, mass shootings, forced labor, starvation, forced abortions and sterilization , perpetrators = , par ...

, then in hiding; first alone, later with her parents. After immigrating to Israel with her family in 1949, Frankel studied art at the

Avni Institute Avni Institute of Art and Design is an Israeli art school located in Tel Aviv. History The Studia school (later Avni Institute) was established in 1936 by a group of Jewish artists. Among the founders was Aharon Avni, who became the school's fir ...

. She began illustrating children's books at the age of 30. In 1975, she published the first of over 40 children's books that she both wrote and illustrated, in addition to illustrating dozens of books by other authors. Her books, translated into 12 languages, have become bestsellers. She lectures on illustration at several institutions, and her work has been featured at exhibitions and fairs in Israel and abroad. Frankel has won numerous prizes, including an Hans Cristian Andersen Honor Citation and multiple Parent's Choice awards. Girl, her first book for adults, was awarded the

Sapir Prize The Sapir Prize for Literature of Israel is a prestigious annual literary award presented for a work of literature in the Hebrew language. The prize is awarded by Mifal HaPayis (Israel's state lottery), and is a part of the organization's cultural ...

for Literature and

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...

's Buchman award. She was married to the late artist Zygmunt Frankel (1929-1997; see http://www.zygmuntfrankel.com), and their sons are Ari (born 1960; see http://www.arifrankel.com), and Michael (born 1972).

Author and illustrator of children's literature

For all ages Frankel started writing when her son Michael was a baby, creating a book for him about toilet training, titled ''Sir ha-Sirim'' (Hebrew: Potty of Potties; a whimsical play on words from the biblical Hebrew ''Shir ha-Shirim'', Song of Songs). The Hebrew-language original was published in 1975 and became an instant best seller. Frankel gained international popularity and recognition when its English translation,

Once Upon a Potty ''Once Upon a Potty'' () is a picture book by Alona Frankel for pre-schoolers and their families, aimed to help with their potty learning. Its original version was published in 1975 in Hebrew and only featured the boy Joshua (נַפְתָּלִ ...

, appeared in 1980 for boys –

Joshua Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...

– and girls –

Prudence Prudence ( la, prudentia, Contraction (grammar), contracted from meaning "seeing ahead, sagacity") is the ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason. It is classically considered to be a virtue, and in particular one of th ...

. These books and their video editions have sold over 5,000,000 copies in the United States alone. They were listed as No. 1 (His) and No. 3 (Hers) in ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'' all-time best-selling Hardcover Childcare charts. Alona Frankel has written and illustrated several dozen children's books, many of which have been translated into English and other languages. Her books have been published by Harper Collins, Firefly Books, and Publications International. For adults Following the Hebrew publication of ''Girl'' ebrew: Yalda its translation into Polish and Czech, and excellent reviews, comparing it favorably to

Anne Frank Annelies Marie "Anne" Frank (, ; 12 June 1929 – )Research by The Anne Frank House in 2015 revealed that Frank may have died in February 1945 rather than in March, as Dutch authorities had long assumed"New research sheds new light on Anne Fra ...

and

Primo Levi Primo Michele Levi (; 31 July 1919 – 11 April 1987) was an Italian chemist, partisan, writer, and Jewish Holocaust survivor. He was the author of several books, collections of short stories, essays, poems and one novel. His best-known works ...

writings, Alona published two more volumes in her autobiographical memoir, ''Teen'' and ''Woman''. ''

Indiana University Press Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is an academic publisher founded in 1950 at Indiana University that specializes in the humanities and social sciences. Its headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana. IU Press publishes 140 ...

'' published ''Girl'' in English in Fall 2016.

Awards

Following numerous awards and honors for her picture book works, in 2005, Frankel won Israel's

for Literature for her memoir, ''Girl'', about her childhood and the Second World War in Poland, spent under an

assumed identity A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

or in hiding. The book was also awarded the Jacob Buchman Memorial Foundation Prize for

Holocaust Literature The Holocaust has been a prominent subject of art and literature throughout the second half of the twentieth century. There are a wide range of ways–including dance, film, literature, music, and television–in which the Holocaust has been repre ...

that same year.Yad Vashem grants the 2005 Buchman Prize for Holocaust Literature to Alona Frankel for her memoir, "Girl"
/ref> In 2014, Frankel was a recipient of the

Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works The Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works, also known as the Levi Eshkol Literary Award, named after Israel's third Prime Minister, is an annual award granted to writers in the Hebrew language. The prize was established in 1969. Abou ...

References

External links

Official WebsiteChildren BooksYouTube channel clips
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frankel, Alona 1937 births Israeli children's writers Polish children's writers Polish women children's writers Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent Jewish artists Polish emigrants to Israel Living people Israeli women children's writers Recipients of Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works