Sylvia Weve (b. 1954) has illustrated over 100 books. Weve’s expressive and energetic illustrations are the perfect match for Westera’s writing. The poetry collection Ik leer je liedjes van verlangen, en aan je apenstaartje hangen (I’ll Teach You Songs of Longing and How to Swing By Your Monkey Tail, 2010), which won a Silver Slate Pencil, is evidence of their successful partnership.
Children’s author Bette Westera and illustrator Sylvia Weve have taken a unique and gently anarchic approach in these vibrant and powerful portraits of twelve old people, with their snappy rhymes and eloquent images. Scram! I’m Not Your Gran! demonstrates how craftsmanship and artistry can come together to produce an imaginative children’s book that playfully combines ethics and aesthetics, emotion and humour.
Unique, unorthodox and unflinching: this describes children’s writer Bette Westera and illustrator Sylvia Weve’s approach to death in all its aspects. These poems, rhymes and songs range from poignant to light-hearted in tone and invite the reader to recite them out loud. Weve’s outstanding, evocative illustrations are marked by their diversity of style, composition and atmosphere, beautifully complementing the poems and completing the collection.
A boy who sees his dad kissing his teacher. A girl who finally gets the big (half-)brother she’s wanted for so long. Stepmothers who actually turn out to be okay. This poetry collection by Bette Westera and Sylvia Weve is about love, but about love that has failed, run aground or ended in separation. In these rhythmic verses, no subject remains undiscussed.
