Guus Kuijer

Guus Kuijer, the creator of literary figures like »Madelief« and »Polleke«, numbers among the Netherlands’ most outstanding children’s book authors. He was born in Amsterdam in 1942 and worked as a teacher before devoting himself full time to writing. In more than thirty novels, short stories, plays and screenplays he has set the standards for a literature that takes children seriously as readers. Having initially written for adults, Kuijer then published »Met de poppen gooien« (t: Bowling with the dolls) in 1975, his first »Madelief« children’s book. With the translation of the fourth volume, »Erzähl mir von Oma« (t: Tell me about grandma; OT: »Krassen in het tafelblad«, 1978), the beloved character of the little girl Madelief conquered the German children’s book market in 1981.

With an unmistakable blend of light humor and warmhearted irreverence, Guus Kuijer opens for the reader »a whole treasure chest of things that make the world go round« (»Süddeutsche Zeitung«). He brilliantly situates his novels between carefree episodes from the everyday and the tragedy of life, banishing horror with a smile. Crystal clear and profound, Kuijer depicts the evolution of his young protagonists in life while casting an amusing glance at the world of adults.

His best-known works are the award-winning »Polleke« novels. »Voor altijd samen, amen« (1999; t: We are forever together, amen) was the prelude to the five-part series. With a light touch and disarming humour, Kuijer portrays an adolescent girl caught between a chaotic patchwork family and her multicultural everyday life at school. Full of sympathy, he lets the eleven year-old Polleke cheekily display her turbulent experiences, which include her lovingly complicated relationship with her father Spiek who knocks about life as a drug dealer and disappoints her over and over again. With charming confidence Polleke approaches all sorts of emotional confusion and discovers how love and tenderness are often concealed behind anger and aggression. Kuijer’s »splendid figure of identification« – as the journal »Eselsohr« wrote – demonstrates to readers that children have their own opinions and can make their own decisions. »Voor altijd samen, amen« was awarded the German Youth Literature Prize in 2002.

With »Het boek van alle dingen« (2004; Eng. »The Book of Everything«, 2006), which was awarded the Lynx of the Year 2006, Guus Kuijer presents a challenging new novel for children: the nine year-old Thomas grows up in 1950s Amsterdam, the son of a violent father who is a religious bigot who oppresses the family. Upon meeting their neighbour, Frau Amersfoort, Thomas enters a new world of books and music, and slowly takes his first steps out of a grim, grey world. »To pack so much wisdom about love and faith, freedom and happiness into quotidian scenes and dialogue that also sometimes turns somersaults – that sums up Guus Kuijer’s great art«, deemed the »Neue Zürcher Zeitung«.

Guus Kuijer, whose literary work was awarded the Netherlands’ national prize for children’s and young adults’ literature (1979) only four years after the publication of his first children’s book, has received many international distinctions and was twice nominated for the ALMA Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.

© international literature festival berlin

Rose, met vrome wimpers.
Meulenhoff
Amsterdam, 1971

Het dochtertje van de wasvrouw.
Meulenhoff
Amsterdam, 1973

De man met de hamer
De Arbeiderspers
Amsterdam, 1975

Met de poppen gooien
Querido
Amsterdam, 1975

Drie verschrikkelijke dagen
Querido
Amsterdam, 1976

Een gat in de grens
Querido
Amsterdam, 1976
[Ill: The Tjong Khing]

Grote mensen, daar kan je beter soep van koken
Querido
Amsterdam, 1976
[Ill. Mance Post]

Ich stell mich auf ein Rahmbonbon
Oetinger
Hamburg, 1977
[Ü:Hans Georg Lenzen]
[Ill. Mance Post]

Op je kop in de prullenbak
Querido
Amsterdam, 1977

Pappa is een hond
Querido
Amsterdam, 1977

Vernagelte Fenster, da wohnen Gespenster
Oetinger
Hamburg, 1979
[Ü:Hans Georg Lenzen]

Daisy’s new head
Kestrel Books
Harmondsworth, 1980

Het geminachte kind
Arbeiderspers
Amsterdam, 1981

Kopfstehn und in die Hände klatschen
Oetinger
Hamburg, 1980
[Ü:Hans Georg Lenzen]
[Ill. Mance Post]

Crisis en kaalhoofdigheid
Arbeiderspers
Amsterdam, 1983

Mal sehen, ob du lachst
Oetinger
Hamburg, 1983
[Ü:Hans Georg Lenzen]
[Ill. Mance Post]

De jonge prinsen
Querido
Amsterdam, 1986
[Ill. Mance Post]

Der Turm der schwarzen Steine
Maier
Ravensburg, 1987

Izebel van Tyrus
De Arbeiderspers
Amsterdam, 1988

De redder van Afrika
Arbeiderspers
Amsterdam, 1989

Tina und die Kunst, sich zu verlaufen
O. Maier
Ravensburg, 1989
[Ü: Hanni Ehlers und Regine Kämper]
[Ill. Jan Jutte]

Ich fühle mich wie Apfelmus
O. Maier
Ravensburg, 1990
[Ü: Hanni Ehlers und Regine Kämper]
 
Tina und der Schatz von Zweibeinland
O. Maier
Ravensburg, 1990
[Ü: Hanni Ehlers und Regine Kämper]
[Ill. Jan Jutte]

Im Land der Nashornvögel
Otto Maier
Ravensburg, 1991
[Ü: Hanni Ehlers und Regine Kämper]

Het vogeltje van Amsterdam
Arbeiderspers
Amsterdam, 1992

Mensch, Olle!
Maier
Ravensburg, 1996
[Ü: Hanni Ehlers, Regine Kämper]

De tranen knallen uit mijn kop
Querido
Amsterdam, 1980
[Ill: Mance Post]

Met de wind mee naar de zee 
Querido
Amsterdam, 2001
[Ill. Alice Hoogstad]

Olle
Querido
Amsterdam, 2001

Tin Toeval in de onderwereld 
Querido
Amsterdam, 2001
[Ill. Jan Jutte]

Tin Toeval en het geheim van Tweebeens-eiland 
Querido
Amsterdam, 2001
[Ill. Jan Jutte]

Erzähl mir von Oma
Oetinger
Hamburg, 2002
[Ü: Hans Georg Lenzen]
[Ill: Mance Post]

Es gefällt mir auf der Welt
Oetinger
Hamburg, 2002
[Ü. Sylke Hachmeister]
[Ill. Alice Hoogstad]

Met de poppen gooien
Querido
Amsterdam, 2004
[Ill: Mance Post]

Het grote boek van Madelief
Querido
Antwerpen, Amsterdam, 2004
[Ill: Mance Post]

Wunder kann man nicht bestellen
Oetinger
Hamburg, 2004
[Ill. Alice Hoogstad]

De grote Tin Toeval 
Querido
Amsterdam, 2004
[Ill. Jan Jutte]

Polleke
Querido
Amsterdam, 2004
[Ill. Alice Hoogstad]

Ich bin Polleke!
Oetinger
Hamburg, 2005
[Ü: Sylke Hachmeister]
[Ill. Alice Hoogstad]

Das Buch von allen Dingen
Oetinger
Hamburg, 2006
[Ü: Sylke Hachmeister]
[Ill: Michael Sowa]

Florian Knol
Querido
Amsterdam, 2006

Hoe een klein rotgodje God vermoordde 
Athenaeum-Polak & Van Gennep 
Amsterdam, 2006

Wir alle für immer zusammen
SZ Junge Bibliothek
München, 2006
[Ü: Sylke Hachmeister]
[Ill: Alice Hoogstad]

Das Glück kommt wie ein Donnerschlag
Random House
München, 2006
[Ü: Sylke Hachmeister]
[Ill: Alice Hoogstad]

Ein himmlischer Platz
Oetinger
Hamburg, 2007
[Ü: Sylke Hachmeister]
[Ill: Michael Sowa]

Übersetzer: Hanni Ehlers, Regine Kämper, Sylke Hachmeister, Hans Georg Lenzen