...When I Grow Up
An amusing rhymed catalog of professions!
Ages 4-8, 36pp. Over 10 reprints.
Co-written with Nevo Ziv.
Illustrations: Na'ama Peleg.
Am-Oved Publishers, 2002.
Rights availability:
All languages/territories.
Representation: info@jonyavin.com
Pumpkin the Kitten
PJ Library, Platinum book.
Oh, Brother
An overshadowed sister drags her parents to swap her newborn brother in the hospital, only to discover their special bond and her new, important role.
Won the Israeli Museum Illustration prize.
When Dad was Sad
Illustrations: Gilad Soffer.
In the Neighborhood
Kids run around the hood, 1980's retro.
Ages 4-8, 32pp.
Illustrations: Noam Nadav.
Am-Oved Publishers, 2010.
Rights availability:
All languages/territories.
Representation: info@jonyavin.com
Dorri the Dragon
Dorri dreams he's a dragon and keeps at it all day…
Ages 4-8, 32pp.
Illustrations: Ofer Getz.
Am-Oved Publishers, 2013.
Rights availability:
All languages/territories.
Representation: info@jonyavin.com
King Leo Retires
Renewed edition 2025
King Leo has had it with running the jungle! The animals form a messy government…
Translations: Chinese (2018), Spanish (due Apr. 2026)
Ages 4-8, 40pp.
Illustrations: Ofer Getz.
Original edition: Kinneret-Zmora Publishers, 2015. New edition: Mellel Publishing House, 2025.
Rights availability:
All other languages/territories.
Representation: info@jonyavin.com
Cockatoo Hairdo
Ra'ama's hair has a mind of its own. One morning two hatchlings are in it…
Translations: German (2017), French (2017) all 3 languages published together. Ages 4-8, 36pp.
Illustrations: Liora Grossman.
Am-Oved Publishers, 2017.
Rights availability:
All languages/territories including German and French (rights retrieved to author).
Representation: info@jonyavin.com
A Night at the Playground
Amnon Ben Tamim takes his parents
on a playground adventure – at night!
Translations: English (2023).
Ages 4-9, 32pp.
Illustrations: Aviel Basil.
Am-Oved Publishers, 2021.
Translations: English (2023).
Rights availability:
All other languages/territories.
Representation: Assia Literary Agency
Rona's Moving Out
Rona doesn't want to tidy up her room and decides to move to her best friend's from upstairs, realizing there's no place like (messy) home.
Entered "The Book Parade" 2026.
Ages 4-8, 40pp.
Illustrations: Aviel Basil.
Mellel Publishing House, 2024.
Rights availability:
All languages/territories.
Representation: info@jonyavin.com
YA Novels
Agents/Publishers: English sample translation is available for your discretion. Please contact me.
The Golden
Boarding school Suspense.
Ariel's fight for survival in the toughest of boarding schools. A touching and nerve-wrecking thriller!
Ages 12-16, 428pp.
Am-Oved Publishers, 2006.
Rights availability:
All languages/territories.
Representation: info@jonyavin.com
Anti
Rap novel featuring rap segments.
A family tragedy makes Dror a rapper and saves him through art and love.
Translations: Japanese (2019).
Ages 12-16, 247pp.
Am-Oved Publishers, 2011.
Translations: Japanese (2019).
Rights availability:
All other languages/territories.
Representation: ITHL.
Love vs. Friendship
(Ahava Neged Haveruth)
Boys rom-com.
Yarin and Lior have been best friends forever, until they both fall in love with the same girl!
Ages 10-14, 216pp.
Illustrations: Noni Sagol.
Miskal Publishers, 2017.
Rights availability:
All languages/territories.
Representation: info@jonyavin.com
Fiction Novels
Agents/Publishers:
English translation sample is available for all of my novels.
Rights query: (info@jonyavin.com)
My Latest :
Loyal to None but Himself
(Neeman LeAtzmo)
Mellel Publishing House, 2022
"A brilliant novel!" Ma'ariv daily
"A language juggler, page turner, such a fun book!" IDF radio
"Jonathan Yavin's writing can be summed up telegraphically: Original, riveting, unpredictable, surprising. Each of his novels revealed a different aspect of his excellent narrative skill. I am anxious to find out where his next book takes me." Author Haim Be'er
"A spicy story, extremely well built…" Makor Rishon
"Skillful, smart, sexy and funny!"
Yedioth Aharonot
"Yavin's writing is so edgy, it's almost annoying…" Israel Today
"I've enjoyed every word in this book. I don't think this has ever happened to me…" Author Na'ama Segal
"Jonathan is an excellent writer, his characters are built layers upon layers…" Women's World
Synopsis
Saul Na’aman, Israel’s biggest radio star, is going deaf and hides it from listeners and colleagues. In an interview with the defense minister he mishears and lashes out inexcusably. He gets himself suspended and flips over his 50th birthday surprise party, after which he befriends Dolev Shalva, an enigmatic forensics expert in the Israeli police, a ski fanatic, wine lover and a certified womanizer. Saul's is dangerously drawn to Dolev's wife, Osnat, a gifted glass artist and away from his loving wife, Sigri. From the wine cellars of Tel Aviv to the peaks of the Austrian Alps, this tantalizing journey between loyalty and betrayal leads to a cliffhanger crescendo.
Readers Response:
Wow, wow, wow. read it cover to cover in a single day. Highly recommended! Eyal
Just finished it. Great book. You dog! Author Noya Sagiv
I wolfed down the first 140 pages on my flight. I'm now waiting anxiously for my flight back, fighting the urge to pull the book out of my suitcase…
Danny Reicher, Co-Founder, "Beit HaGishur"
An invitation to a nonstop game with fire. I was sucked in by every word, jumped through every hoop. I was moved, surprised, broken-down only to rise up again with more air and courage. Your writing is brave, unique and edgy… Orit Levisman
Beautiful book, I just couldn't put it down. The plot is captivating, the characters accurately shaped, you get emotionally involved with each and every one. Jonathan masters the language spectacularly, as he did in previous novels. A Hebrew lovers feast… Yaron sadan, former CEO at Am-Oved publishing house
I head-dived into this book and marveled at Saul, the protagonist. Found myself chained to the plot. Just wonderful Adi Hillel
Previous Novels
Baba Gee
(Baba Gee)
My debut novel. Nadav, a 28 yo lost boy photographer, goes to India. His Father, Elli, tags along. 369pp.
Am-Oved Publishers, 2004.
Rights availability:
All languages/territories.
Representation: info@jonyavin.com
House-Sitter
(Shemar-Ba'it)
Amos, a boring bank teller, survives a robbery, becomes a house-sitter and meets a lover and a killer. Written in ancient Hebrew. 355pp.
Am-Oved Publishers, 2011.
Rights availability:
All languages/territories.
Representation: info@jonyavin.com
The Misanthropist
(HaMisantrop)
Doron, a snide abusive playwright, is the star of Tel-Aviv's theater world. His girlfriend, Irit, leads him down a slippery slope of violence. 480pp.
Kinneret-Zmora-Bitan Publishers, 2014.
Rights availability:
All languages/territories.
Representation: info@jonyavin.com
Writer's Guide
Agents/Publishers: English sample translation is available for your discretion. Please contact me.
Building a Story - the architecture of Writing
revised edition 2025
(Bonim Sipur)
15 years of writing workshops led to this bestselling writer's guide, originally published in 2012. It contains 2 brief portals, Philosophy and Psychology and a 3rd and extended portal, Practice, which holds 20 metholodical chapters, each addressing a fundemental component of the art of prose.
Original book (unavailable): 272pp, Kinneret-Zmora-Bitan Publishers, 2012.
Revised edition (available): 317pp, Mellel Piblishing House.
Rights availability:
All languages/territories.
Representation: info@jonyavin.com