Translation Rights

Download My 2025 Catalogue
See My Books Abroad Here.

Read All About Me On Wikipedia.
Ckick 
 Here to read the 1st chapter Of
Loyal to None but Himself (My Latest Novel)
(Chapters 2-3 Are Available In English, Contact Me)

Picture Books

Agents/Publishers: complete English translation available for your discretion. Please contact me.

 

הכי הייתי

...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

החתול דלעת עטיפה לא פיגקמה

Pumpkin the Kitten

Amazing bestseller! 220K copies and counting… A boy afraid of cats meets the cutest answer!
Ages 4-8, 32pp.
PJ Library, 
Platinum book.
Illustrations: Gilad Soffer.
Am-Oved Publishers, 2004.
Translations: Arabic (2006) rights returned and available, English (2023), Croatian (2023).
Rights availability:
All other languages/territories.
Representation: Assia Literary Agency
אחלה אח

Oh, Brother

Left-aside sister takes parents to swap her new baby brother in the hospital!
Ages 3-7, 32pp. Over 12 reprints.
Won the Israeli Museum Illustration prize.
Illustrations: Gilad Soffer.
Am-Oved Publishers, 2005.
Rights availability:
All languages/territories.
RepresentationAssia Literary Agency
כשאבא היה עצוב

When Dad was Sad

Noa is sad over some silly nonsense, so Dad makes up a silly story of a sad fish!
Ages 4-8, 32pp. 4 reprints.
Illustrations: Gilad Soffer.
Am-Oved Publishers, 2008.
Rights availability:
All languages/territories.
RepresentationAssia Literary Agency
בשכונה שלנו

In the Neighborhood

Kids run around the hood, old school!
Ages 4-8, 32pp.
Illustrations: Noam Nadav.
Am-Oved Publishers, 2010.
Rights availability:
All languages/territories.
Representation: info@jonyavin.com

דורון הדרקון

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

קאבר עדכני פרונט

King Leo Retires

New edition 2025

King Leo's had it with running the jungle! The animals form a government…
Ages 4-8, 40pp. 
Illustrations: Ofer Getz.
Original edition: Kinneret-Zmora Publishers, 2015. New edition: Mellel Publishing House, 2025.
Translations: Chinese (2018).
Rights availability:
All other languages/territories.
RepresentationAssia Literary Agency

גוזלים בראש

Cockatoo Hairdo

Ra'ama's hair has a mind of its own. One morning two hatchlings are in it…
Ages 4-8, 36pp.
Illustrations: Liora Grossman.
Am-Oved Publishers, 2017.
Translations: German (2017), French (2017) both published with original.
Rights availability:
All languages/territories including German and French (rights retrieved to author).
Representation: info@jonyavin.com

לילה בגינה

A Night at the Playground

Amnon Ben Tamim takes his parents
on a playground adventure – at night!
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 (what a shocker). She decides to move to another family and her parents help her pack, fix her a meal and help her find a better home: her friend Michal's from upstairs. But there Rona realizes there's no place like (messy) home.
Ages 4-8, 40pp. 
Illustrations: Aviel Basil.
Mellel Publishing House, 2024.
Rights availability:
All languages/territories.
Representation: info@jonyavin.com

Young Adults

Agents/Publishers: English sample translation is available for your discretion. Please contact me.

איור העטיפה: אלון אנדורן

The Golden

(Zehavim) 

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

איור העטיפה: נוני סגול

Anti

(Anti) 

A family tragedy makes Dror a rapper and saves him through art and love.
Ages 12-16, 247pp. 
Am-Oved Publishers, 2011.
Translations: Japanese (2019).
Rights availability:
All other languages/territories.
Representation: ITHL.

איור הספר: נוני סגול

Love vs. Friendship

(Ahava Neged Haveruth)

Yarin and Lior have been best friends forever. Now 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 sample translation is available for all of my novels. Request.

Rights query: (info@jonyavin.com)

My Latest Novel:

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

Chapters 1-10 are now availabale in English. Request
 For synopsis PDF file:
 Download

 

What's it about?

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 Rave:

Wow, wow, wow. read it cover to cover in a single day. Highly recommended!   Eyal

Just finished it.  Great book. You bastard!    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

 I can't describe how much I've enjoyed this book. As a religious Jewish woman had to swallow some frogs, but I rejoiced with your language – and what joy it was! The pace! I was chasing the words ecstatically!   Sarit Zussman, artist
 

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

באבא ג'י

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

ציור העטיפה: אלדד זיו

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

המיזנתרופ

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

Nonfiction

Agents/Publishers: English sample translation is available for your discretion. Please contact me.

בונים סיפור

Building a Story - a Writer's guide

(Bonim Sipur)

About 15 years of writing workshops resulted in a method I developed and perfected. Philosophy, psychology and practice of writing. 272pp. 
Kinneret-Zmora-Bitan Publishers, 2012.
Rights availability:
All languages/territories.
RepresentationAssia Literary Agency

עגלת קניות