Alona Frankel facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Alona Frankel
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Writer & Illustrator Alona Frankel
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| Native name |
אלונה פרנקל
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| Born | 27 June 1937 Kraków, Poland |
| Occupation | Illustrator, writer, novelist |
| Notable works | Once Upon a Potty, Once Upon an Elephant, A Family of Tiny White Elephants (or: Once Upon an Elephant), A True Story (or: Once Upon a Bird), A Book Full of Love, Girl, Teen, Woman |
| Spouse | Zygmunt Frankel (1937-1997) |
| Children | Ari Frankel (b. 1960), Michael Frankel (b. 1972) |
Alona Frankel (born June 27, 1937) is a famous Israeli writer and artist. She has created many classic children's books. She also writes special books about her own life for young adults. Alona was born in Poland and lived through a very difficult time called the Holocaust. In 1949, she moved to Israel.
Contents
Her Early Life and Journey
Alona Frankel was born in 1937 in Kraków, Poland. She spent her childhood during the Holocaust in a place called the Lwów Ghetto. This was a special area where Jewish people were forced to live. Later, she had to hide to stay safe, sometimes alone and sometimes with her parents.
In 1949, Alona and her family moved to Israel. She studied art at the Avni Institute. When she was 30, she started drawing pictures for children's books. In 1975, she published her first book that she both wrote and illustrated. Since then, she has made over 40 of her own children's books. She has also drawn pictures for many books by other authors.
Alona's books have been translated into 12 different languages and have sold millions of copies. She also teaches others about how to illustrate books. Her artwork has been shown in many art shows and events in Israel and other countries. Alona has won many awards for her work, including an Hans Christian Andersen Honor Citation. Her first book for adults, Girl, won the Sapir Prize for Literature. She was married to an artist named Zygmunt Frankel, and they had two sons, Ari and Michael.
Writing and Illustrating for Kids
Alona Frankel started writing when her son Michael was a baby. She created a book to help him with toilet training. The book was called Sir ha-Sirim in Hebrew, which means "Potty of Potties." It was published in 1975 and quickly became very popular.
Alona became famous around the world when her book was translated into English in 1980. It was called Once Upon a Potty. There were two versions: one for boys, featuring a character named Joshua, and one for girls, featuring Prudence. These books and their video versions have sold over 5 million copies in the United States alone! They were even listed as some of the best-selling children's books ever by Publishers Weekly.
Alona Frankel has written and illustrated many children's books. Many of them have been translated into English and other languages. Her books have been published by well-known companies like Harper Collins.
Books for Older Readers
After her book Girl was published in Hebrew, it was also translated into Polish and Czech. This book is about her childhood and her experiences during World War II in Poland. She had to live under an assumed identity, meaning she pretended to be someone else, or stay in hiding to be safe.
Because Girl was so well-received, Alona wrote two more books about her life: Teen and Woman. These books tell her life story as she grew up.
Awards and Recognition
Alona Frankel has received many awards for her picture books. In 2005, she won Israel's important Sapir Prize for Literature for her book Girl. This award was for her memoir about her childhood during the Holocaust. In the same year, she also won the Jacob Buchman Memorial Foundation Prize for Holocaust Literature. In 2014, Alona Frankel received the Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works.
