Stories and pictures behind my books
All my books, either published, in production, or awaiting some action, have a story behind them. Mine have some pictures too, as I love drawing, cutting puppets from paper, and fiddle with images on the computer. So why don't I illustrate my own picture books? Well, for once, I don't have an art background, and it takes a lot of time to illustrate a picture book. Time I would better spend writing! Also, there are a lot of great illustrators out there who do a much better job than me.
 

Will You Carry Me

The first draft of Will You Carry Me was written in a hotel room in Washington DC after an exhausting day walking the Mall. I had tried everything to prevent carrying my toddler. But no matter how much I jumped, swam, or flew, I did not get my stubborn child to move. In stories, however, you can make anything happen!

I made some sketches for personal fun, in which the clever mother looks more and more exhausted. Insiders will see that too in Peter van Harmelen's illustrations. And much more!


The original Master Pieces: Mr. Sabelobedos!

Master Pieces came into being when I absentmindedly mixed up words for my 3 year old son's clothes and body parts while getting him dressed. He had such a laugh that I wrote up the story on the very day. Like many of us, Mr. Sabelobedos, as I called him, had to get himself together in the morning, but then literally!

I made Mr. Sabelobedos as a shadow puppet, whose body parts could move out from behind his back. That way, he would start the day as one big lump. It turned out to be too complicated, so I used the puppet to illustrate the story for my son. When my Dutch publisher and editors saw the manuscript they immediately thought of Tijn Snoodijk as the illustrator. Tijn came up with the name "Master Pieces" because of the analogy of a puzzle.

On this picture Mr. Sabelobedos is searching for his belly button in the bathroom.

 

Sara's Invisible Brother
Actually, I DID illustrate one of my own picture books.
I wrote and illustrated Sara's Invisible Brother when my daughter, who inspired the story, was in Kindergarten. The book was accepted for publication by an American publisher in 2001. Sadly, it took years to find out that the publisher was not able to go ahead with it. Maybe the book will see the daylight in another format some other time. The book is copyrighted.
 

The Best Mom in the Universe

This story came to me when my son told me, while I was tucking him in, that I was the 'best mom in the universe'. Of course I knew that this was not true, and I suddenly saw this alien flying by who also disagreed!


My mother got sick very shortly after I wrote the story and heard that she did not have much time left to live.  I decided that I wanted to dedicate the book to her, if it would be accepted for publication.

Of course I would really have loved for my mother to be able to hold the actual book in her hands. But it takes of lot of time to produce a picture book even once it is accepted. I am very grateful that I was able to tell my mother that the story would be published with illustrations by Peter van Harmelen, although we both knew it would be after her passing. Peter had also done Will You Carry Me, which had just come out in Dutch, and was working on my third picture book that was to come out in the Netherlands in 2005.

My 10 year old daughter suggested to illustrate the book as a collage project of the children and me together. I am very grateful for having been able to do this (see photo). Although we did not know it at the time, my mother had another four months to live.


Other stories

Of course not all my stories started in my family (though Out of Order did. It takes a whole team to get a stubborn child to eat!) However, most stories that I have written or sketched out are inspired by something that happened to me or somebody I know. Or people I know about! A young adult historical novel that is still cooking is based on 18th century witness statements  that I came across in the Amsterdam municipal archives.


And Sir James? He is a friend of mine, who once was so heroic and chivalrous that I turned him into a knight. To tease him, though, I made his shadow puppet alter ego not very clever and a little overweight. Over time, the paper Sir James developed his own character and his own stories. My friend, I can assure you, is very smart and has no weight problem anymore!

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