In September 2010 ‘The Cookie Thief’ (‘De koekjesdief’) was published in Knights, Dino’s and Pirates, an anthology of read aloud stories for tough boys (Ploegsma Children’s Book Publishers).
May 2012 is when ‘Grandpa’s Lost’ (‘Opa is de weg kwijt)’ came out, a sweet little story about Pilou and her grandpa who has Alzheimer’s. It will be published in Throughout the World, There Is Nobody Like Them – The Big Read-Aloud Book for Grandpas and Grandmas (Ploegsma Children’s Book Publishers).
Grandpa’s Lost (Opa is de weg kwijt)
Page 42/43 – The Cooky Thief
Writing short stories for the very young is a different craft from writing YA novels. You have to be concise, beyond concise even. Often you have to leave out the good stuff for the illustrators. You have to be precise and clear without ever, ever getting down on your knees or spoil the young readers’ imagination and fantasy. I love the challenge of writing short stories!
My first short stories were published in Bobo, a biweekly magazine with a 45,000 circulation. I started out with a single story in 2007: ‘Little Droplet’s Big Trip’ (‘Drupjes grote reis’), about Little Droplet and his best buddy Little Saltlet. They live deep down in the ocean, until one day they decide to venture up to the surface, to where the hot, hot sun is…
The first series in Bobo was ‘On Fiep Street’ (‘In de straat van Fiep’), 21 stories with the illustrations of Holland’s most famous illustrator Fiep Westendorp. The series ran from spring 2007 until winter 2008. You can imagine that I was mighty proud to be chosen by Bobo to write stories for Fiep’s illustrations. I must admit I felt – just a teeny weeny bit, far, far away in the back of my mind – incredibly honored to join Mies Bouhuys or maybe even Annie M.G. Schmidt, two of the major league famous Dutch writers, who so eloquently brought Fiep’s illustrations to the world for years and years.
‘On Fiep Street’ is about Ties, Pleun, Sigrid and all the other kids living in Fiep Street. They’re bold, they’re sweet, they’re cunning and they’re naughty, and – most of all – they think life is an amazing adventure.
The next series for Bobo was a series of 9 stories ‘In Class’ (‘In de klas’), a series about teacher Rob and his class. Rob is the best teacher ever, the teacher you’ve always wanted to have.
