Book Week in Tel Aviv

Book week is an annual event that occurs at the beginning of June. During this week you can purchase books at discounted prices and join various activities.

I guess there are two main reasons for it to be in June:

1. The weather is good. It’s not too hot.
2. It’s the beginning of summer vacation. Children don’t go to school for two months. And worried parents that have* to work, don’t want their kids to stay all day long in front of TV/computer. Thus, they buy the books.

* There are many complains about child-adult vacation ratio in Israel. Children have more than 60 vacation days per year. While for adults, the law states minimum of two weeks per year. Big parts of the population have only two weeks per year, some have three weeks. But I never about more than 25 days a year. Thus, most of the children’s vacations are spent without parents.

Map of the area:

Here we parked near Tel-Aviv art museum and started walking towards the event.

We parked there since in the last several years they decided to hold book week at Rabin Square in Tel-Aviv. Not sure who made such decision, since Rabin Square is located in the center of the city. Reaching it means a lot of traffic jams and there is no convenient parking near it.

In front of Tel Aviv Museum of art there are nice people and birds statue:

And this is the Opera House:

Skyscrapers in Tel Aviv breed like guinea pigs.

Cycling towards Rabin Square:

This is the Rabin Square. The rectangular building in the distance is the city hall.

Book week is basically book market. There are many stands of various publishers and the idea is that you buy directly from them (removing the bookstores from the supply chain). Thus, the bigger part of the revenue reaches authors, meaning support local authors to continue writing.

A part of children book stand:

Probably the youngest reader at the book week:

There were theater shows for children. And this is very convenient, While one parent watches the show with children, the other can go and buy the books.

We attended one of the shows. It was really nice. But, the problem is they didn’t really organize the space. The only chance for children that came later to see the show, was to climb on their parents. And after 45 min (show’s duration), my shoulders were aching.

There was also a mobile library.

And it’s time to head back.

The mobile library truck:

This mobile library truck was sponsored by Bank Hapoalim. You can also see Dan the Dwarf – their advertisement cameo calling people to open saving programs in the bank.

Moreover, there were actors dressed like Dan the Dwarf that played and took photographs with children.

I remember during my MBA studies, they told us about children-brand experiments. Children that saw a certain brand in their youth, and were exposed to it while getting older, tend to prefer that brand when they become adults.

So, does Bank Hapoalim want toddlers and preschoolers to open saving programs in their bank when they will grow older? Probably. But, did they consider the antagonism they create in parents (that don’t like when companies try to brainwash their kids)? Probably not.

That’s all for today and I’ll see you in future travels!

Stay Tuned!

For additional points of interest nearby see Tel Aviv-Yafo.

Additional Resources

Here are several resources that I created to help travelers:

• Trip Planner with Attractions and Itineraries is the page that will help you create your perfect travel route.
• What is the Best Time to visit Israel? To answer this question, we will consider the weather, prices, holidays, festivals, and more.
• Information and Tips for Tourists to Israel will answer the most common questions tourists have about Israel (including safety, passports, weather, currency, tipping, electricity, and much more).
• Israel National Parks and Nature Reserves include a complete list, top ten, map, tickets (Israel Pass, Matmon, combo), and campsites.
• If you are looking for things to do, here are the pages for Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Sea Of Galilee, Akko (Acre), Eilat, Nazareth, Safed (Tzfat), and Makhtesh Ramon.