Review by Ian Keogh

In Israel the nonsense poems of Lea Goldberg are much loved childhood institutions, perhaps in the way that Edward Gorey’s morbidly humorous poems once delighted British adults and children alike (and still do when folk come across them). It possibly feeds into why this is designed to resemble a children’s storybook.

As the title suggests, Mr Fibber is at the very least prone to exaggeration, and undergoes the most amazingly surreal experiences over three brief poems. The sample art sees him stuck in the jar into which he’s fallen after attempting to retrieve a dropped coin, and other stories have him boarding a train pulled by a giant dog, and his capture of the sun to ensure his holiday remains warm and bright.

They’re charming and funny, just the sort of joke tale an adult relative would spin to captivate a young child, and that’s how Yirmi Pinkus draws Mr. Fibber, his balding head indicating his age. Pinkus doesn’t just adapt the rhymes, he adds his own nonsense aspects such as Mr. Fibber being accompanied by a monkey in a waistcoat while preparing for holiday, or the cat attached to the bottle stopper being alive in the first story. All are drawn in coloured pencil avoiding black lines, and have a lively energy to complement the absurd situations.

Translator Ilana Kurshan deserves greater than usual credit for sympathetically ensuring what rhymes in Hebrew also rhymes in English, although keeping to the poetic rhythm requires use of very old words and phrases like “twas” and “hear ye”.

A sturdy hardcover package ensures this can withstand multiple readings held by young hands.