Conclusion

This exploration of the Flemish and Dutch children’s book landscape is just a brief sketch, inevitably many people and things have been neglected. New authors have very likely been forgotten, established values - by their nature already sufficiently well-known - have not been mentioned. Hopefully this summary is an invitation to and an encouragement for first-time visitors to explore this colourful quilt and go on to make new discoveries.

About the author

Annemie Leysen teaches children’s literature at the Catholic University of Louvain. She is also a critic for the Flemish daily De Morgen. In this essay she turns her attention to Flemish and Dutch literature for children and young adults, a branch of Dutch-language literature currently enjoying international renown. She introduces a number of important writers from a literary quilt which is not only colourful, but also enormous.

Published in NLPVF:: Essays:: children's books | en on March 30, 2000