Snow White Knits a Monster
Following the international success of 'Coco, or the Little Black Dress', Annemarie van Haeringen has created another gem with this sparkling ode to the imagination.
Snow White the goat happily knits away, making goat-wool socks, until, one day, animals begin to slide from her knitting needles. Cuddly little goat kids are all very nice, but when a wolf appears and gobbles down Mrs Sheep in one bite, Snow White quickly has to knit up an even more dangerous creature to take care of the wolf.
Annemarie van Haeringen has created a picture book full of exciting monsters, so that young readers can safely enjoy a good scare. The story contains playful allusions to fairy tales. When Snow White knits goat kids, there are seven of them, just like in the story by the Brothers Grimm, and the door of the closet where she runs to hide looks a lot like the grandfather clock of the songs and nursery rhymes. This is a picture book about the power of the imagination, with the comforting message that whatever you make up, you can also undo.
Three-time Gouden Penseel winner Annemarie van Haeringen (b. 1959) studied under Thé Tjong-Khing at art school, but she learned most about the profession of illustration from her fellow artist Max Velthuijs. Since her debut in 1985, her work has evolved from detailed watercolour and ink illustrations to whimsical line drawings featuring a bold use of colour and plenty of space on the paper. Picture books form the core of Van Haeringen’s oeuvre. She often writes them herself, as well as illustrating, as in her award-winning 'Beer is op Vlinder' (Bear Loves Butterfly) and 'Coco or the Little Black Dress'.