Alona Frankel ~ the mother behind the classics

Alona BIO | English Joshua & Prudence titles | other Alona BOOKS | Contact INFO

Alona Frankel writes and illustrates children's books in unique, intimate styles. When her son Michael was a baby, Alona created a book for him called Once Upon A Potty. The original Hebrew version was published in 1975, immediately becoming a bestseller. That success encouraged Alona to write and illustrate additional books based on ideas that have followed her for many years. She has since created over forty titles, and has also "just" illustrated many, many others.
Long on the bestseller lists, her work has enjoyed international acclaim. The classic Once Upon A Potty Joshua - boy and Prudence - girl books and videos have sold over 5,000,000 copies in the United States alone. They were listed as No. 1 (His) and No. 3 (Hers) in Publisher Weekly's all-time best-selling Hardcover Childcare charts. Among Joshua & Prudence publishers are HarperCollins Children's Books, Firefly Books, Publications International, and child matters media.
Alona has had several solo exhibits and has been featured at international book fairs in the United States, Italy, Israel, Egypt and Japan. She was featured on the 1982 Honour List of The International Board on Books for Young People, presented by The Hans Christian Andersen Award organizers. In addition to lecturing at art academies, museums, libraries and to children audiences, she has participated in television and radio programs and was invited to The 1988 International Conference on Children's Literature, hosted by universities and libraries in major U.S. cities.
Denmark has recently invited Alona to speak about her new poetic memoirs for adults GIRL and TEEN [visit alonafrankel.com for details], and from Copenhagen she returned to her home in Tel-Aviv to work on upcoming interactive mobile device applications of select picturebook classics. On the connection between her books and her view of life, Alona says: "I believe that the only differences between children and adults are life experience, wealth of associations and a child's dependency on an adult. I respect and hold in the highest regard children's sense of judgment. My books mirror my liberal views, the right of free choice and the aversion to indoctrination and violence. They also sprinkle some anarchic humor, which is often the best shield in the face of distress; I think this is true for both children and for adults".