Where Is Kitty Cat?
The idea behind Marijke Klompmaker’s first solo picture book is a simple one: the cat has gone missing – and the reader is invited to help search various houses in the neighbourhood. But the way the idea is developed is surprising and original.
With a beautifully bold and meandering style, Klompmaker uses pencil, brush and collage to build higgledy-piggledy themed houses with undulating walls. The protagonist, Nova, looks for Polle the cat in the homes of crooks and construction workers, inventors and astronauts, mythical creatures and fictional characters. Every packed picture has its own colour palette, so the cheerful chaos remains a united whole. For anyone who thinks they’ve seen it all, there are additional things to search for at the back of the book.
30 pages
3+
“There are look-and-find books and there are special look-and-find books. This one falls into the second category”
Visiting Years
When reading Bezoekjaren (Visiting Years, 1999), you realize just how important the rule of law is. Zima grows up in a large family in Casablanca during the dictatorial reign of King Hassan II. One day, her eldest brother, Amrar, does not come home. He has spoken out against the authorities and is being detained without a fair trial.
Beginners
This book presents 24 portraits of non-conformist individuals, with Joke van Leeuwen focusing on their youth. Their achievements as adults appear only in separate text boxes. The author chose her characters from all over the world, throughout history and from a variety of disciplines. There are artists and directors (Frida Kahlo, Ingmar Bergman), sports heroes (Pelé) and champions of freedom, equality and children’s rights (Sojourner Truth, Anton de Kom, Janusz Korczak).
Deesje
In 'Deesje' by Joke van Leeuwen you roll along with the main character from one adventure into the next. And not only as far as the story is concerned; reading the words and looking at the pictures is one big surprise. In the work of the doubly talented Van Leeuwen, text and illustrations complement each other perfectly, and humour and seriousness intermingle. The language is packed with puns and the comical black-and-white drawings are really different and also tell a story. A veritable feast for the eyes.
Bontekoe’s Cabin Boys
On the quay in the historic town of Hoorn, three bronze cabin boys gaze out over the wide waters of what was once the Zuiderzee. They are listening to ‘the voice of the sea, which entices and intoxicates’. They are Hajo, Padde and Rolf, the cabin boys of shipmaster Willem IJsbrantsz Bontekoe (1587–1657), who found fame with the publication of his ship’s log about his improbable journey to Bantam (East Indies) in 1618, which he undertook in the service of the Dutch East India Company during the Golden Age.
