Update on the Literary Prizes

Mid June the nominations for the Gouden Griffel (the Golden Slate Pencil) were announced. This prize is the eldest and most well-known of the prizes for the best children’s books of the pervious year. The winner will be revealed on 3 October, at the start of the Dutch Children’s Bookweek. These 4 titles are the contenders:

  • Bijna jarig (‘It’s almost my Birthday’) by Imme Dros (text) and Harrie Geelen (illustrations) - Querido
  • Vos en Haas en de dief van Iek (‘Fox and Hare and the thief of leak’) by Sylvia Vanden Heede - Lannoo
  • Big (‘Piggy’) by Mireille Geus - Lemniscaat
  • Mama! Waar heb je het geluk gelaten? (‘Mummy, where did you leave good luck?’) by Ted van Lieshout - Leopold

Bijna jarig (‘It’s almost my Birthday’) by Imme Dros (text) and Harrie Geelen (illustrations) is a picture book which won another major prize this year: the Woutertje Pieterse. It’s nearly Ella’s Birthday and she is very curious about her present. Dros convincingly captures the birthday excitement and anticipation, followed by the pangs of Ella’s guilty conscience when she sees her gift by accident. The illustrations depict Ella both touchingly and believably in an attractive, nostalgic children’s world.

The Flemish author Sylvia Vanden Heede has written seven books about the Fox and the Hare. She narrates their funny stories in a beautiful, simple, language. The series is illustrated by the highly acclaimed Thé Tjong-Khing.

Big (Piggy), the second book by Mireille Geus is an intriguing story about the balance of power in a friendship.

Mama! Waar heb je het geluk gelaten? (Mummy, where did you leave good luck?) by Ted van Lieshout (Uitgeverij Leopold) is a poetry collection by illustrator/designer/author/poet van Lieshout. His fiction books have been translated into 9 languages, his poetry not at all up to now.

Golden Paintbrush

The yearly prize for the best illustrations in a children’s book, the Gouden Penseel (Golden Paintbrush) was awarded on 23 May to Marit Törnqvist for her art in Pikkuhenki. Pikkuhenki – written by Toon Tellegen – tells the story of the witch Pikkuhenki. She’s so small that she lives under a grain of sand. Actually, she’s so small that she’s invisible in the artwork. In this rebellious fairytale Pikkuhenki wants to discover whether she really is a witch. She crawls into the heads of animals and people and influences their minds.

by Agnes Vogt

Published: July 2, 2006 children

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