With his irresistible humor, Meir Shalev breathes life into these favorite stories from the Old Testament. Children are sure to enjoy hearing them anew in this fresh retelling. The book features Emanuele Luzzati's playful collage illustrations and a new translation by Ilana Kurshan.

The Blue Mountain is the first novel by one of Israel's most important and acclaimed contemporary writers and as with all his writing is a virtuoso example of Shalev's skill as a storyteller. Published to outstanding reviews all over the world, its publication in Britain re-affirms his reputation as a major international writer. Set in a small rural village prior to the creation of the State of Israel, this funny and hugely imaginative book paints an extraordinary picture of a small community of Ukrainian immigrants as they succeed in pioneering a new life in a new land over three generations. The Blue Mountain transcends its time and place by touching on issues of universal relevance whilst never failing to entertain and engage the reader. As with Four Meals, the writing is lyrical and of exceptional quality and illustrates why Shalev has been steadily winning an ever-increasing number of fans worldwide.

Four Meals is the extraordinary story of Zayde, his enigmatic mother Judith and her three lovers. When Judith arrives in a small, rural village in Palestine in the early 1930s, three men compete for her attention: Globerman, the cunning, coarse cattle-dealer who loves women, money and flesh; Jacob, owner of hundreds of canaries and host to the four meals which lend the book its narrative structure; and Moshe, a widowed farmer obsessed with his dead wife and his lost braid of hair which his mother cut off in childhood. During the four meals, which take place intermittently over several decades, Zayde slowly comes to understand why these three men consider him their son and why all three participate in raising him.

In 1998, reaction to the Pocket Canons came in Biblical proportions. The simplicity of the idea, the quality of the introductions and the appeal of the format and design made the series an enormous international success. Collected together for the first time, this anthology of these introductions features a wonderfully diverse group of writers, each of whom provides considered, personal and sometimes controversial responses to individual books of the Bible, be it Bono on Psalms, AS Byatt on the Song of Solomon, Louis de Bernieres on Job or the Dalai Lama on the Epistles.

A woman with three loves and a son with three fathers: a universal story of passion and personal destiny by the award-winning author of "A Pigeon and a Boy."
When the mysterious Judith arrives in a small agricultural village in Palestine in the 1930s, she attracts attention of three men: Moshe, a widowed farmer; Globerman, a wealthy cattle dealer; and Jacob, who loses his wife--the most beautiful woman in the village--because of his obsession with Judith, who insists on living in a cowshed rather than settling down with any of her admirers. When she gives birth to Zayde, all three suitors consider him their son, and Zayde, who tragically loses Judith, imbibes their triple wisdom and their distinct versions of his origins. As Zayde pieces together the beguiling story of the singular woman who was his mother, Meir Shalev weaves a magical novel of the joys and secrets of village life, of an unconventional family, and the unexpected fruits of love.