Uriel Ofek (; 30 June 1926 in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

– 23 January 1987) was an Israeli

children's writer Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

, editor, lyricist, poet, translator and literary scholar.

Biography

Ofek was born in Tel Aviv to the

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

poet Arie Popik, grew up in

Giv'atayim Givatayim () is a city in Israel east of Tel Aviv. It is part of the Gush Dan metropolitan area. Givatayim was established in 1922 by pioneers of the Second Aliyah. In it had a population of . The name of the city comes from the "two hills" on w ...

and studied in

Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium The Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium (, also known as ''Gymnasia Herzliya''), originally known as HaGymnasia HaIvrit (lit. Hebrew High School) is a historic high school in Tel Aviv, Israel, whose faculty and alumni includes many people influential in t ...

. He served as a medic in the

Palmach The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Phalanges/Companies") was the elite combined strike forces and sayeret unit of the Haganah, the paramilitary organization of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of th ...

Brigades, 1944–1949,

1947–1949 Palestine war The 1948 Palestine war was fought in the territory of what had been, at the start of the war, British-ruled Mandatory Palestine. During the war, the British withdrew from Palestine, Zionism, Zionist forces conquered territory and established ...

and served in

Gush Etzion Gush Etzion (, ' Etzion Bloc) is a cluster of Israeli settlements located in the Judaean Mountains, directly south of Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the West Bank. The core group includes four Jewish agricultural villages that were founded in 1943� ...

and was in Jordanian captivity, where he spent about nine months. He edited the children's newspaper ''Davar L'iladim'' (children's supplement of

Davar ''Davar'' (, lit. ''Speech, Word'') was a Hebrew-language daily newspaper published in the British Mandate of Palestine and Israel between 1925 and May 1996. A similarly named website was launched in 2016, under the name ''Davar Rishon'' as an ...

) for many years and laid the foundation for the Bibliography of

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

children's literature,

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

and Yiddish, the global children's literature, both knees of children's literature. He had a doctorate degree in children's literature from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

. Many of his books are based on experiences in childhood and youth in neighborhood Borochov in Giv'atayim, where he grew up. He describes landscapes, events and characters from the period preceding the establishment of Israel – the Slick of Aldema, Battles in Wadi Musrara, and the Seven Mills along the Yarkon river. His widow, Bina Ofek, and two daughters, Atara Ofek and Amira Hachamowitz, are writers and editors for children as well. Ofek died from

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

in 1987 at the age of 61.

Awards

* In 1965, Ofek was awarded the Lamdan Prize for children's literature and youth for his book "''Robinson to Lubengulu''". * In 1976, he won the Zeev Prize for literature for children and youth for his book "''No secrets in the neighborhood''".

Books (partial list)

Books for children and youth

*"The Show Must Go On" (translated to English, German, Danish and

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

) *"Smoke Over Golan" (translated to English, German, Danish, Dutch and

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

) *"Five minutes of fear" *"Stars on the border" *"Story Time" *"No secrets in the neighborhood" *"Seven mills and a station" *"Steps in the sand" *"Deer Hill" *"My Great Raid"

Classic Jewish Legends

*"Chelm the City of Wise Men" *"King Solomon's bee" (originally by Haim Nahman Bialik) *"Emperor's New Clothes" *"Fishing the Goldfish"

reference books

*"Lexicon Ofek to Children's Literature" *"A hundred years of Zionism" *"Robinson to Lubengulu" *"Snow white to Emil" *"Tarzan and Hasamba" *"Give them books"

Translations

*''

Tom Sawyer Thomas "Tom" Sawyer () is the title character of the Mark Twain novel '' The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' (1876). He appears in three other novels by Twain: '' Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' (1884), '' Tom Sawyer Abroad'' (1894), and '' Tom Sawy ...

'' by

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...

(1969) *''Tree stars'' by Leib Morgntoi (1977) *''

Mister God, This Is Anna ''Mister God, This Is Anna'' is a book by Sydney Hopkins under the pseudonym "Fynn" describing the adventures of Anna, a young yet wise four-year-old whom Fynn finds as a runaway. Nineteen-year-old Fynn takes Anna home to his mother, who takes he ...

'' by Fynn (1979) *Translation of poems in ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

'' by

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

(1979) *''

Max and Moritz ''Max and Moritz: A Story of Seven Boyish Pranks'' (original: ''Max und Moritz – Eine Bubengeschichte in sieben Streichen'') is a German language illustrated story in verse. It was written and illustrated by Wilhelm Busch and published in 186 ...

'' by

Wilhelm Busch Heinrich Christian Wilhelm Busch (14 April 1832 – 9 January 1908) was a German humorist, poet, illustrator, and painter. He published wildly innovative illustrated tales that remain influential to this day. Busch drew on the tropes of f ...

(1983) *''

The Wind in the Willows ''The Wind in the Willows'' is a children's novel by the British novelist Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. It details the story of Mole, Ratty, and Badger as they try to help Mr. Toad, after he becomes obsessed with motorcars and get ...

'' by

Kenneth Grahame Kenneth Grahame ( ; 8 March 1859 – 6 July 1932) was a British writer. He is best remembered for the classic of children's literature ''The Wind in the Willows'' (1908). Born in Scotland, he spent most of his childhood with his grandmother in ...

(1984) *''Wild Shua'', a third translation of ''

Struwwelpeter ''Der Struwwelpeter'' ('Shock-Headed Peter') is an 1845 German children's book written and illustrated by Heinrich Hoffmann. It comprises ten illustrated and rhymed stories, mostly about children. Each cautionary tale has a clear moral lesson ...

'' by

Heinrich Hoffmann Heinrich Hoffmann or Hoffman may refer to: Hoffmann *Heinrich Hoffmann (photographer) (1885–1957), German photographer *Heinrich Hoffmann (author) (1809–1894), German psychiatrist and author *Heinrich Hoffmann (sport shooter) (1869–1932), Ger ...

(1985) *'' Wizard of Oz'' by Frank Baum (published after Ofek's death in 1988) *''

Huckleberry Finn Huckleberry "Huck" Finn is a fictional character created by Mark Twain who first appeared in the book ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' (1876) and is the protagonist and narrator of its sequel, '' Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' (1884). He is 12 ...

'' by

*''

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...

'' and ''

Alice Through the Looking-Glass ''Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There'' is a novel published in December 1871 by Lewis Carroll, the pen name of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, a mathematics lecturer at Christ Church, Oxford, Christ Church, University of Oxford. I ...

'' by

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, mathematician, photographer and reluctant Anglicanism, Anglican deacon. His most notable works are ''Alice ...

*''

Tales from Moominvalley ''Tales from Moominvalley'' (, literally 'The Invisible Child and other stories') is the seventh book in the ''Moomins'' series by Finnish author Tove Jansson. Unlike all the other books, which are novels, it is a collection of short stories, the ...

'' and ''The Memoirs of Moominpappa'' by

Tove Jansson Tove Marika Jansson (; 9 August 1914 – 27 June 2001) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish author, novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author. Brought up by artistic parents, Jansson studied art from 1930 to 1938 in Helsinki, Stockholm, ...

*''

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' is a 1964 children's novel by British author Roald Dahl. The story features the adventures of young Charlie Bucket inside the chocolate factory of eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka. The story was origina ...

'' by

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British author of popular children's literature and short stories, a poet, screenwriter and a wartime Flying ace, fighter ace. His books have sold more than 300 million copies ...

*''

James and the Giant Peach ''James and the Giant Peach'' is a children's novel written in 1961 by British author Roald Dahl. The first edition, published by Alfred Knopf, featured illustrations by Nancy Ekholm Burkert. There have been re-illustrated versions of it over ...

'' by

Discography

Netanela and Dudu Zakai- Blue Bird – The Songs of Uriel Ofek −1977

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ofek, Uriel 1926 births 1987 deaths Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium alumni Israeli children's writers University of Toronto alumni 20th-century Israeli male writers Deaths from leukemia in Israel