My Children's Books Come to LifeI have been writing children's books, stories and plays for over thirty years. My first story, "Bacteria Galore by Sunday at Four" was the first to be published (in Hebrew) in 1996, followed by Arabic and English versions.
Today I chanced upon the very first version of this story, written in a lab notebook in 1975. I had prepared it for a young child in Kiryat Shmoneh, who had once asked me to tell him about bacteria (during a weekend to do guard duty there in 1974). By the time I completed the story, however, I couldn't remember his name nor where he lived (and I have never found him since!!). You can see my clumsy original drawing and compare it to the same page in the published text (lovingly illustrated by Tali Niv Dolinsky).
I am thinking about my children's stories today because of a very positive development. A small but vibrant company has ordered a thousand of my two books, "Witch Wizelda and the Talking Toothbrush" and "What to do with a Used Toothbrush", originally published in Hebrew with the help of Evi Wyler. They will be selling the books in dental offices throughout the UK and over the internet. If I haven't made it clear by now, I AM EXCITED!!!!
Just a few days ago, I was invited to perform in front of a group of twenty children of varied ages. So I tried out some of my stories and songs, it was great fun. I read them the story about Kenya the Cant'garoo and Dr. Cluck, one of a series of eight stories amazingly illustrated by Rotem Omri. These are the very stories I displayed at the book festival in Bologna, and they are still waiting patiently for publication. In the meantime, they are available for free at www.meltells.com
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