Ily, an 11-year-old boy, narrates his family’s happenings over the past year. Specifically, he tells us about the adventures he and his siblings go through in the arduous process of convincing their mother to get them a dog. The book, written in everyday language and accompanied by amusing illustrations, tells the story of a typical, energetic and somewhat loud Jewish-Israeli family, with their day-to-day life, holidays, little quarrels, laughs and all. As the plot advances, we learn about relationships between children and parents, setting boundaries and drawing lines, fighting and finding solutions and, also, a lot about love.
2016 | 101 pp. | Age 7-11 | English translation available | Rights Sold: Hebrew
“My girls and I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book Five Kids and One Haim together… subtle and authentic humor… and plenty of love.” – Yannets Levi, The Writer’s Choice: The Best Books of 2016
“What a delightful book… charmingly, funnily and naughtily written. The illustrations add a lot. Highly recommended for parents and children.” – Nurita, popular literature and books website
“The name of Rabiner’s book refers to Five Children and It by English author Edith Nesbit, a children’s adventure book that was published over 100 years ago. Both books tell the story of five siblings who find themselves in an adventure and are joined by a new character, and although the plots are not very similar it feels as if the five 21st century Israeli children would join in on the English gang’s fantastic adventures with cries of joy.” – Nira Levin, Dafdaf, website
“The nice thing about this book is that there isn’t an agenda of ‘come and let me show you why homeschooling is great.’ Homeschooling is just part of this large and tempestuous family’s day-to-day life… everyone comes together to create an authentic portrait of a loud and opinionated family.” – Dr. Anat Shapira-Levi, Saloona, women’s portal
Avishag Rabiner is a writer and creative writing instructor. Her five children are the source of inspiration for the wild characters in this book. Before launching her writing career, Rabiner was a prominent Israeli actress who appeared on numerous TV series.
Ortal Avraham is a designer by day and comics artist by night.