Jonathan Yavin


Jonathan Yavin, is an Israeli author of 18 books, for children, young adults and fiction. He is also a public speaker and lecturer, journalist, columnist, translator, op-ed writer and radio host. His books have been translated into English, Arabic, French, German, Chinese, Japanese and Croatian. He is the recipient of the Israeli Prime Minister literary Award 2012. As journalist, he wrote mainly for Haaretz and Yedioth Ahronoth. In 2022 he became a publisher, having founded Mellel Publishing House.
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Biography

Yavin was born in New York City to renowned news anchorman Haim Yavin and wife Josepha, while his father was the Israeli TV correspondent in the US. When Jonathan was 3, his family returned to Israel. According to several interviews with him in Israeli press, he taught himself how to read and write at age 4 and started writing poems at age 6. At age 19 he began writing in local newspapers in Jerusalem. During his twenties he worked as a journalist in local media and as a copywriter in advertising agencies in Jerusalem, while studying for his bachelor's degree in philosophy and comparative literature at The Hebrew University. In 2001 Jonathan moved to Tel-Aviv and began writing for Ha'aretz national newspaper. At the same time he was writing his debut novel, Baba Gee, and while in the making, Yavin published his debut children's book, When I grow up.... The book is a lexicon of professions and is written in a comic and down-to-earth manner. Like all Yavin's children's books, it's rhymed. It was well received, reprinted over 10 times and is still widely sold.
His 2nd children book, Pumpkin the Kitten had major commercial success: It was voted for the Israeli board of Education "Book Parade" both for kindergartens and grades 1–3, translated into Arabic by the Centre for the Arab Child's Literature in Israel and was included in the board of Education's "Bookshelf" initiative, thus distributed in over 50,000 copies to schools and kindergartens in the country. This earned Pumpkin the Kitten a "Platinum Book" certification, issued by the Israel Book Association. In 2019 this book was selected for the PJ Library program in Israel and was distributed in over 140,000 additional copies, bringing total sales to over 210 thousand copies. In April 2023 it was published in English, alongside another one of Yavin's children's books: A Night at the Playground. In November 2023 it was published in Croatian. In May 2024 Jonathan Yavin published his most recent children's book, Rona's Moving Out, about a girl who decides to look for a better family and tries living at her upstairs neighbour's.
Yavin's debut fiction novel, Baba Gee, was published in June 2004. The protagonist is a 28 year old photographer named Nadav, who feels lost and goes on a trip to India. His father, a playboy CEO named Eli, decides to join him. The book was well received by critics and audience alike and optioned twice for the cinema, but was never produced as a film. Yavin's 2nd novel, House-Sitter was key to his acclaim. It was written in a mix of biblical and 18th–19th-20th century Hebrew, was praised by prominent authors David Grossman, Haim Be'er, A. B. Yehoshua and Aharon Meged and following its publication, earned Yavin the Prime Minister Literary Award for Literature 2012. Following this novel came The Misanthropist, a comic thriller taking place in the Tel-Aviv theater scene and Loyal to None but Himself, in which a deafening radio star is fired from his station and gets involved with a forensics expert and his mysterious wife. This novel was received exceptionally well, critics describing it as "brilliant", "an upbeat, sexy and funny entertainment" and "a spicey story, extremely well-built".
As translator from English into Hebrew, Yavin translated such books as "Tarzan of the Apes" by Edgar Rice Burroughs, "Three Men in a Boat" by Jerome K. Jerome, "Spinky Sulks" by William Stieg, "Sleepy, the Goodnight Buddy" by Drew Daywalt and others.
He currently lives in Ramat Gan with his wife Ravit and his three children.

Publications

Books

  • When I Grow Up.... Am Oved Publishing house, 2002, children's book.
  • Pumpkin the Kitten. Am-Oved Publishing house, 2004, children's book. Reached Platinum.
  • Baba Gee. Am-Oved Publishing house, 2004, fiction novel.
  • Oh Brother Am-Oved Publishing house, 2006, children's book. Illustrator Gilad Soffer won the Israel Museum's Ben Yitzhak award for children's literature illustration
  • Zehavim. Am-Oved Publishing house, 2006, young adult fiction novel.
  • When Dad Was Sad, Am-Oved Publishing house, 2008, children's book.
  • In the Neighbourhood. Am-Oved Publishing house, 2010, children's book.
  • Anti. Am-Oved Publishing house, 2010, young adult fiction novel.
  • House-Sitter. Am-Oved Publishing house, 2011, fiction novel.
  • Building a Story ''- The Architecture of writing. Kinneret-Zemora-Bitan Publishers, 2012, writer's guide.
  • Dori the Dragon. Am-Oved Publishing house, 2013, children's book.
  • The Misanthropist. Kinneret-Zemora-Bitan Publishers, 2014, fiction novel.
  • King Leo Retires. Kinneret-Zemora-Bitan Publishers, 2015, children's book. Revised and reprinted in 2025 in Mellel Publishing House.
  • Love vs. Friendship. Am-Oved Publishing house, 2017, children's book.
  • A Night at the Playground. Am-Oved Publishing house, 2021, children's book.
  • Loyal to None but Himself. Mellel Publishing House, 2022, fiction novel.
  • Rona's Moving Out. Mellel Publishing House, 2024, children's book.
  • King Leo Retires - revised edition. Mellel Publishing House, 2025, children's book.
  • Building a Story - The Architecture of writing'' - A revised edition. Mellel Publishing House, 2025, writer's guide.

Links

  • Jonathan Yavin's .
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