Saturday, October 29, 2011

The Annotated Utz and the Mo the Merrier!

The Annotated WIZARD in Hebrew
This weekend Eric Shanower and I are at the World Fantasy Convention which is being held in San Diego this year. One of the nice little extras at the convention has been the chance to reconnect with Oz friend Gili Bar-Hillel from Israel.  Back in the early 1990s I illustrated Gili's first published Oz story for Oziana. A bit later Eric Shanower illustrated her second story.

We finally got the chance to meet Gili face-to-face at the Winkie Convention in 1995 and she still holds the record for traveling the farthest to get to the Winkie Convention by traveling from Tel Aviv to California. I saw Gili again at the Centennial Oz Convention in Bloomington, Indiana, in 2000 where she gave me a book, a Hebrew edition of the first Harry Potter title. Gili had become the official Harry Potter translator in Israel! I was very impressed and have proudly shown the book to Potter fans who've visited.

So, as I mentioned, we got to visit with Gili this weekend, and to continue the tradition she brought me two books: a copy of the Hebrew edition of  The Annotated Wizard of Oz (which she has translated!) and a Hebrew translation of L. Frank Baum's Magical Monarch of Mo. I am most pleased with my presents.

Magical Monarch of Mo in Hebrew

6 comments:

Peter Schulenburg said...

Are these books available in the U.S?

Rupert Hippo said...

That's two more things to look for at the local bookstore. (I moved to Israel last November.)

scott Olsen said...

Anyone familiar with the "The Ozzy Digest" will remember frequent poster Gili Bar-Hillel.

Anonymous said...

Peter -- not unless there is a Hebrew language bookstore that has them. The only one I've been to around here does not. Here is an online Israeli bookseller (in Hebrew of course) it ahs the ANNOTATED WIZARD but not MO:

http://www.booknet.co.il/prodtxt.asp?id=38015&perur=4

Here is a translation of LAND OF OZ:
http://www.booknet.co.il/prodtxt.asp?id=19176&perur=4

Rupert Hippo said...

Come to think of it, I'd better look for the Hebrew translation of The Marvelous Land of Oz, too...

David Maxine said...

My number one Hebrew want at this point is the RETURN TO OZ picture book! If anybody has one to spare let me know ;)