A Girl from There

Truly an artistic experience, the short, concise poems in this collection are composed of the memory fragments of a girl who grew up in the shadow of war and persecution. The journey begins with a small baby covered with flakes of whitewash when a bomb explodes beside her. Born into an intolerable and lawless world, this "white baby" relates the tale of a childhood in which "hide and seek" is life's reality and not a game, and the word "mother" is both a luxury and longing. The book's subtle and delicate language reflects a difficult and isolated reality and is accompanied by illustrations which complete the somber, dream-like atmosphere.

Chava Nissimov was born in 1939 in Warsaw, Poland. She escaped from the ghetto with her mother and grew up "behind the wardrobe" during World War II, and later as a "golah-child" on a kibbutz. She works in an organization that helps Holocaust survivors claim their reparations. Dvora Bekker Aviezer has a BA from the University of Chicago in Human Development and an MA from Tel Aviv University in Educational Counselling. She has translated professional articles and a book of children's poetry from Hebrew. She has also lectured about Special Education in several colleges in Israel and worked as an educational counselor. Ofra Amit is an illustrator who has won many Israeli awards as well as numerous international prizes including the prestigious Andersen prize.