Koos Meinderts & Annette Fienieg
Lucas in the Snow (Lucas in de sneeuw)
“When it snows, Lucas, it means that the angels are moulting,” Lucas’s granddad once told him. Lucas remembers those words when he steps out into a world of whiteness on the final day of the year. On his long walk that morning, the memories come tumbling down through his mind like snowflakes. Lucas has a lot of things to remember – his dad, for example. When they had that sunny holiday on Terschelling, his dad was still around, but now he’s dead and buried. And eating cherries in the long grass with Isabel, the girl with the red hair. So many things that felt so good and carefree last summer are now over. Or was everything not quite as wonderful as Lucas would like to remember?
In Lucas in de sneeuw, we accompany a pensive Lucas on his walk and find out about the rough patches in his seemingly idyllic childhood. The seductive Miss Blanche with her bright red nails and lips, who didn’t flash her friendly smile just at Lucas, but at his father too. The baby rabbits in the stomach of their dead mother. Meinderts conjures up these images in an understated, almost poetic style, projecting the events into the viewer’s mind like a series of impressionist paintings, making this novella about loss – the loss of loved ones, but also of childhood innocence – penetrate all the more deeply. However, in spite of the heavy subject matter, this melancholy tale has a rather cheerful tone – not only because the walk helps to clear Lucas’s head, but also because of the language, which is simple and transparent, and, of course, the beautiful illustrations. Annette Fienieg has created five enchanting screen-printed pictures that perfectly complement this dreamy story.
Meinderts and Fienieg have been creating books together for over twenty years, but rarely have their stories and pictures combined with such power as in Lucas in de sneeuw.
Publisher
Lemniscaat
Vijverlaan 48
NL - 3062 HL Rotterdam
TEL. +31 10 206 29 29
FAX +31 10 414 15 60
Website: www.lemniscaat.nl
Publishing details
Lucas in de sneeuw (2008, 80 pp)
Age: 8+
Biographies
Koos Meinderts (b. 1953) made his debut as a children’s writer in 1983. Meinderts has been acclaimed for his theatre work with young people, having successfully adapted a number of his own books for stage performances. His recently published series about a little boy called Keizer (Caesar) has received critical praise, as has De vuurtoren (The Lighthouse), a picture book that he created with Fienieg. In his stories - often a quest - the theme of death appears regularly, but is never heavy. He has also written awardwinning songs with singer/cabaret performer Harrie Jekkers. In 1991, together with Harrie Jekkers, he was awarded the Annie M.G. Schmidt Prize for the best Dutch language cabaret song.
Website: http://www.meinderts-fienieg.nl
Annette Fienieg (b. 1959) made her debut as an illustrator in 1986. Since then, she has illustrated over eighty children’s books for publishers in the Netherlands and abroad, many of which were written by her husband Koos Meinderts.
Website: www.meinderts-fienieg.nl
Dossier
Quotes
… an original poetic novella that reads as though you’re watching an impressionistic short film.
De Groene Amsterdammer
Meinderts’ unmistakable hallmark: slightly melancholy in tone, with a mixture of poetic and light-hearted language.
Trouw