Daan Remmerts de Vries
In his books Daan Remmerts de Vries (b. 1962) humorously holds up a mirror to parents and educators, but also to the children themselves.
He won a Gouden Griffel for best Dutch children’s book of the year for Godje (Little God, 2002). De Noordenwindheks (The North Wind Witch, 2004) won a Zilveren Griffel. Remmerts de Vries is not only a creator of original books that merge fantasy and reality, but also a masterful reteller of stories. His previous projects include writing the words for the picture book De avonturen van Odysseus (The Adventures of Odysseus, 2016), and 2021 has seen not only the publication of The Jungle Book, with illustrations by Mark Janssen (1974), who made his breakthrough in 2018 with the dreamy picture book Eiland (Island), but also the impressive Helden: de mooiste Griekse mythen herverteld (Heroes: The Most Beautiful Greek Myths Retold).
More Daan Remmerts de Vries
Bigger than the Sky, Worse than the Sun
In this story, told through the voice of twelve-year-old Elmer Noorland, Daan Remmerts de Vries presents an incredibly strong psychological portrait of a troubled young man. Rarely has such a realistic, intriguing and unforgettable character as this Elmer appeared in a children’s book. Remmerts de Vries shows a deft touch, maintaining a light tone in his diary story, with its awkward, boyish style, while making a sincere, heartrending plea for individuality and freedom.
Dream Rabbit
Multi-talented, award-winning author and illustrator Daan Remmerts de Vries delighted his readers last year with this picture book about love and about dreams that come true. Owl falls asleep and has a dream about a white rabbit. The reader wonders whether Owl fancies leg of rabbit for his dinner, but this suspicion turns out to be wrong – Owl is, in fact, a very noble creature.
Mr Kandinsky Was a Painter
A little blue horse prances right out of a painting. It gallops through the air, heading for a photograph of its creator: Wassily Kandinsky. Another version of the artist himself is sitting there on a stool in front of his easel, watching the little blue horse.
Tiger Island
We have arrived at a point where divorce is no longer a taboo in Dutch children’s literature. Usually such books are about the child, who is angry at first, but who gradually becomes used to the situation. The guilty parents do their best and everything works out okay. But what happens when that’s not the case? What about if your dad gets a new girlfriend really quickly, and your mum starts acting more and more strangely, and no one seems to be worried about you?