This city is so big that I could travel for hours
by bus, by train, by subway,
and never reach its end.
If I get lost, I won’t be able to explain
who I am, what are my parents’ names, where do I live.
No one will understand me.
A girl move to a new country, in a big city, in a foreign language.
Everything is new: the streets, the parks, the signs, the school, the children.
How will she manage without understanding a word and without knowing anyone?
Another Country tells the experience of migration and feeling foreign, along with the thrill in discovering an unfamiliar place with all the novelties it offers through the eyes of a child as the author experienced in her childhood.
The illustrations are a high-quality work of art that skillfully conveys not only the sights of the new country through the girl’s eyes but also the girl’s feelings through her heart.
2014 | 38 pp. | Age 4-8 | English translation available | Rights sold: Hebrew
“Tal Nitzan does this wonderfully because the child within her still remembers everything … A fantastic book for ages 4-8.” ~ Atara Ofek, Marmalade
“Tal Nitzan describes, in simple yet striking words, the experience of feeling foreign, even if only temporarily. She phenomenally conveys the struggles of adaptation, the gaps between the world left behind and the new one, and offers deep compassion and hope to those facing a similar situation.”
~ Edna Abramson, The Literary Republic
“A must-read for anyone planning to immigrate with little ones.” ~ Hamutal Levin, Time Out
“With sensitivity and heartfelt emotion, the book describes the protagonist’s retreat inward … In Another Country Nitzan offers hope and comfort to the next generation.” ~Guy Perel, Hebrew Psychology Website
“The fact that Nitzan did not present a didactic text aimed at addressing a problem or offering guidance, but instead simply depicted a difficult existential situation – while also acknowledging its potential for renewed happiness through the necessity of relearning and reshaping one’s existence – makes this book a compelling and thought-provoking work.” ~ Yotam Schwimmer, The Notebook
“Another Country is the first book to address the experience of an Israeli child moving to another country… and it does so masterfully. Nitzan sensitively portrays the narrator’s farewell to her homeland … Her greatest strength lies in her ability to distill complex situations into concise, poignant sentences … A touching and beautiful book.” ~ Mor Dvorkin-Fogelman, City Mouse
“Children listening to the story will identify with the protagonist and share her longing – for home, for the familiar, for the language, for everything they’ve known and understood. Parents, in turn, will reminisce about faraway, colder lands, about the air and the freedom found in foreignness.”
~ A Simple Story, Bookstore
Tal Nitzán is an award winning Israeli poet, writer, editor and a major translator of Hispanic literature. Author of seven poetry books, two novels, a short story collection and six children’s book, and editor of three poetry anthologies. Among the prizes she won are The Prime Minister’s Prize for writers, the women’s writers’ prize, awards for beginning poets and for debut poetry book, the Tchernichovsky Prize for exemplary translation and more. She has participated in various local and international poetry festivals.
Her poems have been translated to more than 20 languages, and appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies. 14 collections of her work were published in Lithuanian, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, English and German. She has resided in Buenos Aires, Bogotá and New York.
Kinneret Gildar is a young talent illustrator. She has illustrated books by top authors among them is Nurit Zarhi. The book Kaleidoscope that she has illustrated won the “Hapinkas” award for outstanding design.