The directory «Plots»

Kipnis Levin
(1894–1990)
Books for children

Levin Kipnis decided to write after seeing a children's magazine for the first time when he was thirteen. In his attic, he wrote, illustrated and produced his own magazine, and submitted one of his stories to the children's magazine. The story was published in 1910. Kipnis became a wandering teacher. He completed his education in Jitomir and Warsaw and went back to his hometown, where he founded an "improved Cheder," established a Hebrew library and wrote and directed plays. In 1913 he emigrated to Eretz Israel and studied at the Bezalel Art Academy in Jerusalem. When Kipnis realized that there was no original Hebrew literature for young children, he wrote his first song for preschoolers. It was an instantaneous hit. At the beginning of World War I he moved to Jaffa and assisted in the publication of a series for small children. His first Eretz Israel stories were published in this series. In 1921 he managed an orphanage in Safed. A year later he traveled to Berlin to study art and craftsmanship. Once back in Eretz Israel, he taught at the Levinsky Teachers' College in Tel Aviv, wrote plays and participated actively in the foundation of a children's theater, which he managed for 25 years. Kipnis published over 800 stories, 600 poems and 100 books in his lifetime. He was awarded numerous prizes, including the Israel prize.

Israel, 1995, Daddy's Big Umbrella (Levin Kipnis)