Bibi Dumon Tak & Fleur van der Weel
Bibi’s Bizarre Beastie Book (Bibi’s bijzondere beestenboek)
Bibi Dumon Tak is mad about animals. Whether it’s animals with two, four or a thousand legs, Bibi wants to know all about them. This love for animals formed the starting point for her steadily growing oeuvre, which consists mainly of non-fiction titles. In Bibi’s bijzondere beestenboek, the author has turned her knowledge into forty appealing portraits of animals.
Whilst in her previous work she often focused on the cow, this time she went for animals that are much more exotic. The coelacanth, the bonobo, the silverfish and the Jesus Christ lizard – in Bibi’s bijzondere beestenboek the whole gang trots past in a colourful procession.
And Dumon Tak just keeps on surprising her readers with extraordinary facts. About the thermometer bird, for example, who uses her bill as a thermometer to measure the temperature of the nest. Or the bombardier beetle, who pelts his enemy with poison bombs. And the army ant, about whom everything is big: himself, his family and his appetite.
Dumon Tak constantly plays with the border between fiction and non-fiction. Her fascinating facts about beasties are described in a style that’s positively fizzing and popping with the fun of storytelling. Sometimes her writing flows in a chatty style that’s familiar to kids: ‘Pleased to meet you: the arctic fox, soft on the outside, cool on the inside.’ Sometimes she tells a touching tale, as in her account of the Djungarian dwarf hamster, where the male acts as a trusted and dedicated midwife during childbirth. And she gives her readers an amusing tip about cockroaches: ‘Would you like to see one? Then don’t do the dishes for a while. But if you never want to see a cockroach, just buy a one-way ticket to Iceland.’
By Joukje Akveld
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
Bibi’s bijzondere beestenboek (2006, 89 pp)
Age: 10+
Biographies
Bibi Dumon Tak (b. 1964) studied Dutch Literature. In 2001, she made her debut as a non-fiction author for children with Het koeienboek (The Cow Book, 2001). Although Dumon Tak’s oeuvre consists for the main part of factual titles, the line between fiction and non-fiction appears to blur in her work; she uses literary techniques to describe reality. Her first novel based on a true story was Soldaat Wojtek (Private Voytek). This style is now attracting a certain amount of cautious imitation, but it was immediately acknowledged by the critics: Het koeienboek was awarded the Silver Slate Pencil, as was the later Camera loopt… actie!.
Fleur van der Weel (b. 1970) is not only an illustrator, but also a graphic designer. Her work has been honoured with awards including the prestigious Woutertje Pieterse Prize. She has created striking black-and-white illustrations of every animal, which look a little like woodcuts. In Bibi’s Bizarre Beastie Book every beastie can easily be identified, but at the same time the atmosphere is pure Van der Weel. Information and imagination go hand in hand in this remarkable little book, both in the text and in the pictures.
Dossier
Quotes
Bright, funny and sometimes poetic pieces. (…) A unique book.
De Groene Amsterdammer
Her comparisons are funny; her descriptions are stunning. (…) Fleur van der Weel’s illustrations offer wonderful support.
NRC Handelsblad
Bibi Dumon Tak is a great asset to children’s literature in the Netherlands.
Trouw
Translations
- Kuckuck, Krake, Kakerlake. Berlin: Bloomsbury, 2009
- Kir kurdu kitap kurdu. Istanbul: Iletisim, 2010
- Zwierzaki cudaki. Warszawa: Dwie Siostry, 2011
- Continued...