Princess, 1987]; and symbolic novels with philosophical or moral themes (for example, De
tuinen van Dorr (1969) [The Gardens of Dorr, 1975]). However, simple or complex, his
work is always entertaining, not least because of a large dose of humour.
Tonke Dragt (b.1930) also creates a new detailed fantasy world with every new book,
which she always illustrates herself. Her oeuvre shows a development from exciting
adventures in a historical setting to stories with a more philosophical character. Her
magnum opus is Zeeën van tijd [Oceans of Time] (vol. 1, 1992), a fascinating story of
voyages in space and time to a ‘mirror world’, in which one can discover elements from
the theory of relativity, science fiction, fairy tales and other literary sources.
Max Velthuijs (1923), who started as an illustrator in 1962, has become one of the
most outstanding Dutch picture book artists. In his recent work—books for young
children, consisting of exquisite paintings with very few words—he manages to
incorporate the great themes of the world literature in a subtle, poetic way (Kikker is
verliefd (1989) [Frog in Love, 1989]; Kikker en het vogeltje (1991) [Frog and the Birdsong,
1991]).
The 1970s: The Great Revolution?In the 1970s, there was an explosive increase of interest in children’s literature. Between
1970 and 1980 more books and brochures on this subject were published than in the
preceding century, largely because of the heated discussion about children’s books and
the rapid social changes which were taking place. Pressure groups demanded books in
which the traditional divisions of the roles of men and women were broken down, in
which sex was no longer taboo and discrimination was combated by a positive attitude
towards other races and other cultures. Their wishes were met by a flow of books
emphasising all kinds of social themes. Most of these have been forgotten. At the same
time, however, a few authors did emerge who often incorporated the same themes in
their work, but coloured them with a personal view and paid much more attention to
literary quality.
One of these was the poet Willem Wilmink (b.1936), who wrote many songs for
children’s television programmes. In his opinion, an important function of children’s
literature is that it should comfort children, and therefore, the emotions and fears of
children are among the main themes in his work. Like no other writer, he manages to
immerse himself in the psyche of a child who is a slow learner or a bed-wetter. The
comfort often arises from a comical and topical twist (suggesting, for example, that
Johan Cruyff and other famous football players also used to wet their beds when they
were small). Apart from that, one finds subdued and idyllic songs, although Wilmink
does not avoid difficult subjects like sex or discrimination.
Guus Kuijer (b. 1942) became famous first of all as the author of five lively books
about Madelief [Daisy]. The first volume, Met de poppen gooien (1975) [Daisy’s New
Head, 1980] was recognised immediately as a very special children’s book. It fitted into
the tradition of stories about the everyday experiences of children, but the tone was
surprisingly new. In the short, sketchy stories, emotions emerged which had not been
presented in children’s books before. Kuijer did not try to portray children as sweet and
endearing, and the adult characters are not always protective and sensible, but
THE WORLD OF CHILDREN’S LITERATURE 705