Miriam Yalan-Shteklis (also Miriam Yalan-Stekelis) ( he, מרים ילן-שטקליס) (21 September 1900 – 9 May 1984) was an Israeli writer and poet famous for her children's books. Her surname, Yalan, was an

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

based on her father's name, Yehuda Leib Nissan.

Biography

Miriam Wilensky (later Yalan-Shteklis) was born in the town of Potoki, near

Kremenchuk Kremenchuk (; uk, Кременчу́к, Kremenchuk ) is an industrial city in central Ukraine which stands on the banks of the Dnipro River. The city serves as the administrative center of the Kremenchuk Raion (district) in Poltava Oblast (pr ...

in the Russian Empire (modern

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

). She was the daughter of Hoda (Hadassah) and Yehuda Leib Nissan Vilensky, a

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

leader descended from a long line of rabbis, and learned

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

as a child. After the failed

Russian Revolution of 1905 The Russian Revolution of 1905,. also known as the First Russian Revolution,. occurred on 22 January 1905, and was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. The mass unrest was directed again ...

, the family moved from place to place: Berlin,

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

, Petrograd and finally

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Ottoman Palestine Ottoman Syria ( ar, سوريا العثمانية) refers to divisions of the Ottoman Empire within the region of Syria, usually defined as being east of the Mediterranean Sea, west of the Euphrates River, north of the Arabian Desert and south ...

to study at the

Herzliya Hebrew High School The Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium ( he, הַגִּימְנַסְיָה הָעִבְרִית הֶרְצְלִיָּה, ''HaGymnasia HaIvrit Herzliya'', Also known as ''Gymnasia Herzliya''), originally known as HaGymnasia HaIvrit (lit. Hebrew High Scho ...

. Yalan-Shteklis attended high school in Minsk and Petrograd, and studied psychology and social sciences at the

University of Kharkiv The Kharkiv University or Karazin University ( uk, Каразінський університет), or officially V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University ( uk, Харківський національний університет імені ...

. She also pursued Judaic studies at the

Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums, or Higher Institute for Jewish Studies, was a rabbinical seminary established in Berlin in 1872 and closed down by the Nazi government of Germany in 1942. Upon the order of the government, the name ...

in Berlin. In 1920, she

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...

and settled in the

Rehavia Rehavia or Rechavia ( he, רחביה, ar, رحافيا) is an upscale Jerusalem neighborhood located between the city center and Talbiya. Since its establishment in the 1920s, the area has always been associated with German-Jewish culture and ...

neighborhood in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. In 1928, she went to Paris to study

library science Library science (often termed library studies, bibliothecography, and library economy) is an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary field that applies the practices, perspectives, and tools of management, information technology, education, an ...

. From 1929, she joined the staff of the Jewish National University Library at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She headed the Slavic department for 30 years. In 1929, she married Moshe Stekelis, a professor of archaeology. She died in

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

on May 9, 1984, at the age of 83.

Literary career

Yalan-Shteklis published her first poem in Hebrew in 1922. In 1933, she turned to writing poems and stories for children, and published her work in the children's weekly ''Davar Leyeladim''. The pain of losing her mother at the age of 16 permeates many of her poems. She had no children of her own, but displayed an unusual gift for writing for the young and became Israel's leading children's poet. She used to say that "poems emanate from the suffering soul and like children, they are born in suffering." She challenged one of the central conventions of modern children's literature — the "happy ending". She portrayed happy children at play, but also their anger and pain, often pointing an accusing finger at adults. An example is her famous poem ''Levadi'' (All alone), written in 1957. In addition to poetry, Yalan-Shtelis translated children's literature into Hebrew from Russian, English, German and Dutch, as well as works by

Samuel Marshak Samuil Yakovlevich Marshak (alternative spelling: Marchak) (russian: link=no, Самуил Яковлевич Маршак; 4 July 1964) was a Russian and Soviet writer of Jewish origin, translator and poet who wrote for both children and adults. ...

, Erich Kastner,

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

, P. L. Travers, and others.

Literary themes and style

Yalan-Shteklis' work is permeated with positive educational values but avoids the trap of didactic preaching. Incorporating nationalist

ideology, but also the traditions of Russian and European literature, her work is nevertheless original and Israeli. The poetry, fiction, and translations of Yalan-Stekelis were collected in three volumes published between 1957 and 1963, with illustrations by Zila Binder: Shir ha-Gedi (Song of the kid); Yesh Li Sod (I have a secret); and Ba-Halomi (In my dream). The works were organized by age level, with a separate volume for each level. In 1986, this collection was reprinted in a single-volume special edition. The first volume contains songs and stories for preschoolers and non-readers. It includes play-songs (an innovation in Hebrew children's poetry), rhymes for finger-play,

lullabies A lullaby (), or cradle song, is a soothing song or piece of music that is usually played for (or sung to) children (for adults see music and sleep). The purposes of lullabies vary. In some societies they are used to pass down cultural knowledg ...

, nature poems, poems aimed at the

inculcation Indoctrination is the process of inculcating a person with ideas, attitudes, cognitive strategies or professional methodologies (see doctrine). Humans are a social animal species inescapably shaped by cultural context, and thus some degree ...

of good habits, and poems just for amusement and expressing emotions. The second volume, for children with reading skills, offers longer stories that probe the relationships between children and parents, and between children and their peer group. The third volume, for older children, contains Zionist poems about the Land of Israel, bereavement and losing parents in 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; ...

. Alongside poems filled with hope for peace and redemption are lyrical-confessional poems about the fears and emotions of a child trying to come to terms with his/her identity and living in society.

Awards

*In 1956, Yalan-Shteklis was awarded the Israel Prize for Children's Literature. It was the first time this category was included. In their decision, the judges wrote: "…Whatever she wrote, she wrote for children, and whatever she wrote bore no hint of deliberate infantilization but rather of true childhood, genuine and realistic, that embraces joy and innocence but also sorrow and tears, life’s wisdom and life’s evils, disappointment and consolation. She flavored her poems for children with all the key ingredients that mark good children’s poetry. Her work possesses a wonderful sense of the world of children. Language that draws upon sources both ancient and modern, admirable poetic skills and perfect musicality are a rare phenomenon in any nation and language, and not every literature is so blessed" (Editorial, ''Davar li-Yeladim''). *In 1968, she was made an Honorary citizen of Jerusalem and granted the Yakir Yerushalaim award.

Musical collaboration

Many of her poems were set to music and have become Israeli children's classics. In 1975 Israeli singers Shmulik Kraus and Josie Katz put out an album of songs based on her poems.Interview with Shmulik Kraus
/ref>

Published work

* ''Hurry, Hurry Dwarfs!'', 1939 tzu Ratzu Gamadim* ''Danny'', 1943 anny* ''Rain'', 1944 eshem* ''Tol-Tol and His Sand'', 1944 ol-Tol Ba'al Ha-Hol* ''The Journey to the Maybe Island'', 1944 a-Masah La Ee Ulai* ''The Girl Millik and Aunt Phillik'', 1945 a'ase Ba-Yaldah Millik U Ba-Doda Phillik* ''Once There Was a Girl'', 1946 a'aseh Be-Yaldah* ''How Songs Come to the Heart'', 1947 ich Ba'im Shirim Le-Lev Ha-Adam* ''The Story of a Curtain'', Paris, 1952 a'aseh Be-Parochet* ''Bimmi'', 1953

immi Mayu Nakazawa (中澤真由 ''Nakazawa Mayu''), known by the stage name immi, is a Japanese Electronica singer and songwriter. She is signed onto DefStar Records. While she writes and composes her own music, she is also regularly produced b ...

* ''Birthday'', Dvir, 1962 om Huledet* ''Wheels'', Hadar 1957 algalim* ''Kid's Song'', Dvir, 1958–63 hir Ha-Gdi* ''I Have a Secret'', Dvir, 1958–63 esh Li Sod* ''In My Dream'', Dvir, 1958–63 e-Halomi* ''Lie?'', Ekked, 1966 heker?* ''Two Legends'', Dvir, 1972 htei Agadot* ''Brave Danny and Other Poems'', 1975 anny Gibor Ve-Shirim Aherim* ''A Paper Bridge'', 1978 esher Shel Niyar* ''Life and Words'', Kiryat Sefer, 1978 ayim Ve-Milim* ''The Soap Cried Loudly'', asabon Bakha Me'od

Translated

* ''Selected Poems'' French: Jerusalem, Departament de la Jeunesse du Keren Hayesod, 1946 Russian: Tel Aviv, Am Oved, 1966 * ''A Paper Bridge'' Spanish: Jerusalem, Miriam Yalan-Shteklis & Esther Solay-Levy, 1978 * ''The Journey to the Maybe Island''

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

: Jerusalem, Al-Sharq, 1972

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yalan-Shteklis, Miriam 1900 births 1984 deaths People from Kremenchuk Ukrainian Jews Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the Ottoman Empire Jews in Mandatory Palestine 20th-century Israeli Jews Hebrew-language poets Israeli children's writers Israel Prize in children's literature recipients Israel Prize women recipients Israeli women poets Israeli women children's writers 20th-century Israeli women writers 20th-century Israeli writers 20th-century Israeli poets Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums alumni Jewish women writers Israeli people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Librarians at the National Library of Israel