Shalom safranim/ safraniot, Does any of you have information about the Shainberg Library Foundation book series for children [in Hebrew], edited by Dr. Irvin Agus in the mid-1940s? The book series was published in Memphis, Tenn., where Dr. Agus (Jacob Agus s brother) served as educational director (1939-45) , according to Encyclopedia Judaica. Agus s name is not mentioned in Selma S. Lewis s A Biblical People in the Bible Belt: the Jewish Community of Memphis, Tennessee, 1840s-1960 (Mercer University Press, 1998).
I started this research after receiving a beautiful copy of Ashmedai Melekh Ha-shedim (Ashmedai, King of the Demons, 1945; 2nd book of the 2nd series), based on the well-known Talmudic aggadah about Asmedeus and King Salomon (Git. 68a-b). The text was adapted to children by Agus and Daniel Persky, a Hebrew enthusiastic who was involved with children s Hebrew periodicals, and illustrated by R euven Lif. Since the book was written in the intention of teaching Hebrew, two dictionaries are included in it; one for the easy words and one for the difficult words . There are four more books in this series, titled (in translation): Deborah/ The Boy Judge; Ashmedai s Revenge; Judith; The Princess of Aram. According to the editor note, another series was planned, for younger readers. As far as I know, not too many fiction books for young readers (2-4 grades), centered around non-biblical themes and/or clear Jewish values, were published outside of Israel in Hebrew. Am I right? Thanks very much, Rachel Leket-Mor Jewish Studies Bibliographer Collection Development Division Arizona State University Libraries Tempe, AZ 85287-1006 Phone: (480) 965-2618 Fax: (480) 965-9127 ========================================================================== HaSafran - The Electronic Forum of the Association of Jewish Libraries Submissions for HaSafran, send to: Hasafran at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listserver at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 at osu.edu AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org/
