Imme Dros
It’s Almost my Birthday (Bijna jarig)
Plucky pre-schooler Ella can’t wait for her birthday and is terribly curious about the mysterious present up in the attic. When she finds a ladder leaning against the side of the house, Ella climbs up on to the roof with her friend Lucy and looks through the attic window. And then she sees her secret present, which hasn’t been wrapped yet…
Imme Dros convincingly captures the birthday excitement and anticipation, followed shortly afterwards by the pangs of Ella’s guilty conscience. The illustrations by Harrie Geelen (Imme Dros’s husband) make this book really appealing as a picture book. Geelen depicts Ella both touchingly and believably in an attractive, nostalgic children’s world full of sunshine. And he really went to town when he painted Ella’s doll’s house.
Truusje Vrooland-Löb
Publisher
Querido
Singel 262
NL - 1016 AC Amsterdam
TEL. +31 20 551 12 62
FAX +31 20 639 19 68
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.querido.nl
Publishing details
Bijna jarig (2005, 30 pp)
Age: 4+
Biography
Imme Dros (Texel, 1936) studied Dutch language and literature in Amsterdam, where she met her husband, illustrator Harrie Geelen. The isolation of Texel island life and the need to make choices are recurring themes in Dros’ work. Influenced by her highly praised translation of Homer’s Odyssey (1991) she wrote some interesting youth novels related to these ancient tales. She is currently retelling a number of Greek myths.
In Annelie in the Depths of the Night (1988) these themes are interwoven into a fantasy about fear of abandonment. In De reizen van de slimme man (The Journeys of the Clever Man, 1992), De jongen met de kip (The Boy with the Chicken, 1993) and Odysseus, een man van verhalen, the themes of searching and travelling repeatedly coincide.
Her language, for younger and older children, is always careful and often poetic. Dros’ work satisfies the demands of literature, without losing its relevance for its audience, making her one of the most highly acclaimed Dutch authors of children’s books.
Quotes
Bijna jarig is an exceptionally beautiful book
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Dros also unobtrusively incorporates a wonderfully wise lesson: honesty is always the best policy.
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