tooth’) or a lullaby for a little porcupine. An anthology from her poetry, Pink Lemonade,
was published in English in the USA in 1981.
She also wrote stories for young children, which two generations of Dutch children
have now grown up with: Jip en Janneke (8 vols, 1953–1960) [Mick and Mandy, 3 vols,
1961; Bob and Jilly, 3 vols, 1976–1980]. But the highlights of her work are fantasy
stories: Minoes (1970) [Minnie, 1992], Pluk van de Petteflet [Pluk and his Breakdown
Lorry] (1971) and Otje (1980). These novels have a realistic, modern setting, but the
world is ‘enchanted’ and includes with fairy tale elements, for example talking animals,
who assist the protagonists in their fight against injustice. The structure shows the
author’s mastery; although the story appears to be told in a casual way, all threads
come together in the end and every detail has a meaning.
In realistic stories for older children the main development was that the world grew
larger, in more than one sense: more and more stories were set in other countries, often
far away; while the border between the world of children and the world of adults was
disappearing as well. Two authors stood out in this genre: An Rutgers van der Loeff-
Basenau (1910–1990) and Miep Diekmann (b.1925).
The work of Rutgers van der Loeff contained educational elements within traditional
literary forms, for instance in De kinderkaravaan (1949) [Children on the Oregon Trail,
1961] and Lawines razen (1954) [Avalanche, 1958].
Diekmann broke new ground in many other respects: she paid more attention to the
psychology of her characters, explored new literary forms, and pushed back thematic
frontiers. Many of her novels are situated at Curaçao (Netherlands Antilles), where she
spent her childhood years. In De boten van Brakkeput (1956) [The Haunted Island,
1959] we first meet a recurrent theme: a protagonist who has to fight his environment,
alone. This theme emerges even more strongly in Marijn bij de Lorredraaiers (1965)
[Slave Doctor, 1974): the story of a 16-year-old white boy in the seventeenth century,
who gradually realises the injustice of slavery. Another remarkable book is De dagen van
Olim [Long, Long Ago] (1971), which is autobiographical and builds a bridge towards
adults’ literature, in both form and theme. Diekmann also wrote lively poetry for young
children—genuinely modern nursery rhymes (Wiele wiele stap [Wheely Wheely Step],
1977).
The 1960s: Further Growth and ConsolidationThere were no really new developments in the 1960s, but an important moment for the
acknowledgement of children’s literature was the establishment of a triennial National
Award for Children’s Literature (since 1988, the Theo Thijssen Award). This was
awarded to Annie M.G.Schmidt (1965), An Rutgers van der Loeff (1967) and Miep
Diekmann (1970), the three leading authors of the decade.
The most important new author of this period was Paul Biegel (b. 1925). Since 1962,
he has written a large oeuvre, mainly consisting of fantasy stories. One can distinguish
three types, progressing—according to the age of the intended reader— from amusing
stories for younger children to more complex novels. There are adventure stories
abounding in action (such as De kleine kapitein (1971) [The Little Captain, 1971]; fairy
tales about kings, robbers, dwarfs and magicians (for example, De Rode Prinses [The Red
704 THE NETHERLANDS