The Periodical <i>Olam Katan</i> (1901–1904) and Its Readers: A Study in Modern Jewish Childhood in Eastern Europe
Journal: Modern Judaism - A Journal of Jewish Ideas and Experience
Year: 2025

Abstract Olam Katan [Small World] was the first illustrated Hebrew periodical for children, edited by Avraham Leib Shalkovich (aka Ben-Avigdor) and Shmuel Leib Gordon (aka Shalag). It was published first in Vienna (1901–1902) and then in Cracow (1902–1904). This article reconstructs the readership of this periodical through the analysis of a unique source: a collection of children’s letters sent to Olam Katan and printed in its pages. Children’s Zionist culture is studied as reflected in the rea