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 (Hebrew: אלונה פרנקל, born June 27, 1937) is a famous Israeli writer and artist. She was born in Kraków, Poland. Alona is known for her many classic children's books. She also writes poetic stories about her life for young adults. Alona survived the Holocaust, a terrible time in history. In 1949, she moved to Israel.
About Alona Frankel
Alona Frankel was born in 1937 in Kraków, Poland. She spent her childhood during the Holocaust. She lived in the Lwów Ghetto and later had to hide. Sometimes she was alone, and sometimes with her parents.
After moving to Israel with her family in 1949, Alona studied art. She went to the Avni Institute. At age 30, she started drawing pictures for children's books.
In 1975, she published her first book. She has now written and illustrated over 40 children's books. She has also drawn pictures for many books by other authors. Her books have been translated into 12 languages. Many of them have become bestsellers, meaning they sold a lot of copies!
Alona also teaches about illustration. Her artwork has been shown in exhibitions and fairs. She has won many awards. These include an Hans Christian Andersen Honor Citation. She also won several Parent's Choice awards. Her book Girl, written for adults, won the Sapir Prize for Literature. It also won Yad Vashem's Buchman award.
Alona was married to the artist Zygmunt Frankel. He passed away in 1997. They have two sons, Ari (born 1960) and Michael (born 1972).
Her Books for Kids
Alona Frankel started writing when her son Michael was a baby. She made a book for him about learning to use the toilet. It was called Sir ha-Sirim in Hebrew. This means "Potty of Potties."
The Hebrew book came out in 1975 and quickly became very popular. Alona became famous around the world. This happened when the English version, Once Upon a Potty, was published in 1980. There was a version for boys, featuring Joshua. There was also a version for girls, featuring Prudence.
These books and their video versions have sold over 5,000,000 copies in the United States. They were even listed as top sellers by Publishers Weekly. Alona Frankel has written and illustrated many children's books. A lot of them have been translated into English and other languages. Her books have been published by well-known companies. These include Harper Collins and Firefly Books.
Her Books for Adults
Alona has also written books for adults. These books share her own life story. They are called Girl, Teen, and Woman. The book Girl was published in English in 2016. These books tell about her experiences growing up.
Awards and Honors
Alona Frankel has received many awards for her picture books. In 2005, she won Israel's important Sapir Prize for Literature. This was for her book Girl. This book tells about her childhood during the Second World War in Poland. During that time, she had to live under a different name or in hiding.
That same year, Girl also won the Jacob Buchman Memorial Foundation Prize. This award is for books about the Holocaust. In 2014, Alona Frankel also received the Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works. This is a special award for Hebrew writers.
