Departures of note

Yehuda Atlas was born on 12 February 1937 in moshav Ein Iron to Esther and Yitzhak, who worked in agriculture. He studied in Karkur and Hadera, served in the Golani Brigade, was a member of Kibbutz Mizra, and worked as a youth instructor in agricultural schools before studying Middle Eastern studies and philosophy at Tel Aviv University. He entered journalism as editor of the youth magazine Bamahane Gadna and deputy editor of the 7 Days supplement of Yedioth Ahronoth, where for eight years he wrote the column 'Yeled Gadol' about children's books and their authors. In 1977 he published 'And This Child Is Me' (והילד הזה הוא אני), a collection of short children's poems presenting the world from a child's perspective. The book was a huge success, won the Ze'ev Prize, was translated into English as 'It's Me', and spawned sequels, a musical album, television adaptations, and stage productions, making him one of the most identified figures in Israeli children's literature. Atlas also researched and translated children's literature, publishing the three-volume 'Yeladim Gedolim' in 2003 on the development of children's literature and its creators in England, the United States, and Europe. He received the Translators' Prize in 2011, the Steimatzky Prize and the Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew writers in 2013, and a lifetime achievement award for children's literature in 2020. In his later years he worked with at-risk children and youth, publishing 'Children of Nobody' in 2021. He was married twice, had three children, and lived in Tel Aviv.