Acclaimed Israeli Children's Author Yehuda Atlas Dies at 89

Yehuda Atlas, a prominent Israeli children's author, poet, and translator, has passed away at the age of 89. He died at Ichilov Hospital, and his family announced his death, remembering him as "an eternal child" who acted with compassion and a desire to help throughout his life. Atlas was known for his work with at-risk children in his later years, which he considered his mission.

Born in 1937 in the moshav Ein Iron, Atlas grew up in a farming family. After serving in the Golani Brigade, he studied Oriental Studies and Philosophy at Tel Aviv University. He began his journalism career in the early 1960s, working for youth publication "Ba-Mahane Gadna" and later for "Yedioth Ahronoth," where he contributed to weekly supplements and hosted a column on children's literature.

Atlas gained widespread recognition in 1977 with his book of poems, "And This Child, Me," illustrated by Dani Kerman. The book, which explored children's emotions and experiences from a child's perspective, launched a series of five books that received the Ze'ev Prize for Children's and Youth Literature. His works were adapted for theater and music.

Beyond his popular children's series, Atlas was a scholar of children's literature, authoring a three-volume work on its classics. He was also a prolific translator of children's books into Hebrew, curating and translating world literature for Israeli youth. In 2017, he published an autobiography detailing his childhood.

In his final years, Atlas focused on writing for at-risk youth, addressing themes like violence and sexual abuse in his 2021 book "Children Belong to No One." He aimed to create texts that would help children recognize their experiences and encourage them to speak out.

Atlas received numerous accolades throughout his career, including the Ze'ev Prize, a translation award in 2011, the Prime Minister's Prize in 2013, and a lifetime achievement award in 2020 from the Israeli Center for Innovation in Education. He was the father of three sons.