Hercules and the Seven Dwarfs

Includes: Striped Chewing-Gum, The War of the Ants, The Unfinished Adventure, We Won the Trophy, The Taming of the Shrewish Dog, Hercules and the Seven Dwarfs. Ephraim Kishon’s humorous stories are known and loved by millions of readers all over the world. Here are six of his stories adapted for young readers. Introducing Ephraim’s children – red-haired Amir and Renanah – his good friend Arvinka, Auntie Ilka, the neighbor Ziegler, the dog Max, the cat Hercules, and many other familiar figures from Kishon’s legendary repertoire.

Kishon is a masterly depicter of human nature, of the little human weaknesses to which we are all liable – including the author. He writes wittily about stinginess, social climbing, selfishness, stupidity, hypocrisy and the tendency to tell little lies. The picture centers around the typical Israeli family with its comical, harmless battles between the generations: parents fighting children and vice versa, much like everywhere else – but here the children are usually more cunning, persistent and cleverer than their parents. “Daddy, you don’t have the slightest idea what’s going on in outer space,” declares little Amir when his father has failed in his attempt to explain why the earth goes around the sun. “You straighten up your socks!” the embarrassed father roars at his son, just to show who’s boss.

There are other battles, no less embarrassing and annoying: the individual’s confrontations with the marvels of technology – the telephone, television, compact-disc player, even the washing machine – which give rise to countless ridiculous situations which split the reader’s sides.