Polish Ambassador to Israel Marc Magierowski released a video on Thursday, International Children’s Books Day, in which he reads in Hebrew from the best-selling series of fantasy books for young readers The Magic Tree.
לרגל היום הבינלאומי לספרי ילדים קראתי קטע מ- ״עץ הקסמים״, ספרו של אנד'יי מלשקה. לכל הילדים בישראל ובפולין: חבר'ה, הכל יהיה בסדר :-) שמרו על עצמכם, אל תצאו מהבית ותקראו ספרים! pic.twitter.com/XeZaLSxkXd
— Marek Magierowski (@mmagierowski) April 2, 2020
Written by Polish author Andrzej Maleszka and published in the Hebrew translation of Anat Zaidman, the books present real-life issues that the children are called to help with, usually with magical objects made from the magic tree. For instance, a red chair that makes the wishes of those sitting on it come true. The ambassador wrote on social media to all children in Israel and Poland that all will be well. "Don't leave the house," he warned. "Read books!"
Award-winning British-Jewish fantasy writer Neil Gaiman – famous for his work on the comic series The Sandman and the novel American Gods, the latter of which was adapted into a series by Amazon Prime – posed on social media a link to all the free options people who are currently at home because of the COVID-19 outbreak have to enjoy his work.
Among the stories and videos is an interview that his daughter, Maddy, did with him.
Because of the coronavirus outbreak many, children are forced to stay in-doors with little to do. To help, the Orna Porat Children’s Theater opened all of their shows for free viewing online.
The date of April 2 was selected to mark the value of children-oriented literature as it is the birthday of Hans Christian Andersen, the Danish writer who created The Little Mermaid, among other famous works. Other noted writers for children include C.S. Lewis, Dr. Seuss and Beatrix Potter.