Page 25 - E-book Yonathan Geffen Part 1 (01-11-15)

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The Sixteenth Sheep
Almost forty years ago, in 1978, Yonathan Geffen writes the
children’s book “The 16th Sheep”. The songs of “The 16th Sheep” are
very different from the children’s songs that are written until then.
Instead of topics like the Land of Israel, working in the field, wars and
heroes, Yonathan Geffen’s songs talk about the child’s inner world,
his feelings and thoughts.
Geffen starts writing the book when he visits France, and the first
song he writes is “The Green Man”, after he sees a man wearing green
clothes in a coffee-shop in Paris. Each song in the book has a special
story. For example, “A Closed Kindergarten” is written because Shira,
Yonathan Geffen’s daughter, says she doesn’t like seeing her
kindergarten without children.
The book becomes an album and then a theatrical play. Great Israeli
musicians like Yehudit Ravitz, David Broza and Yoni Rechter sing
the songs in the album. “The 16th Sheep” is a cornerstone of Israeli
culture. Two generations of Israeli children are raised on “The 16th
Sheep” songs, and today’s children also know songs like “A Closed
Kindergarten” or “The Prettiest Girl at Kindergarten”.

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