I won a prize!

Yesterday I won a prize, and not just any prize: a Zilveren Griffel, one of the most prestigious awards for Dutch children’s books!

I won it for my book ‘Kip en Kat’, a comic for children who are just learning to read:

Me in my custom made Kip en Kat T-shirt

The ceremony

It was a grand awards ceremony at theater De Krakeling in Amsterdam, organised by Dutch books promotor CPNB, at which I finally got to meet my publishers from Zwijsen in the flesh:

Yiri, Agnes Starmans, me, Neeltje van Osch

I was also chaperoned by my husband and my father:

Here’s the bit of the ceremony where I’m called onstage and I give a (very short) speech. It starts with a song by Laurens van de Linde on piano - he made one for every category, masterfully highlighting the winners. The other presenter was Jelko Arts, who also happens to be a cartoonist! (which goes to show how versatile most comic artists are)

After the ceremony I was interviewed by Jan Willem Winter for the podcast Gek Op Boeken - Jan Willem and I go way back, we were both in the same class at the Film Academy in 1990 - AND he also accompanied me when I went to a school in Nieuw-Vennep a few months ago to have seven-year-olds read ‘Kip en Kat’ to me; that was an awesome experience and everyone can hear it on the next podcast that will go out on Tuesday, 24 June.

Jan Willem, me and my very proud dad

Kip en Kat

So what’s the fuss all about? What makes ‘Kip en Kat’ so prize-worthy?

In the words of the jury:

With Chicken and Cat, Margreet de Heer provides the young, beginning reader with an unforgettable first independent reading adventure. With humorous drawings and simple words, Margreet de Heer sketches the absurd adventures of Chicken and Cat, but... who is who? Is Chicken a cat? Or is Cat a chicken? Mouse can't stand it. This can't go on any longer! Until Cat suddenly manages to lay an egg. And then there is the farmer. The farmer who is hungry for an egg. Let's hope that goes well...

Margreet de Heer takes beginning readers seriously by fully immersing herself in their fantasy world. Chicken and Cat is an exceptionally funny adventure that radiates fun on all sides. The book excites and makes you happy. While many of these types of books focus primarily on learning to read, Margreet de Heer focuses on tapping into the reading pleasure of beginning readers. This sets this book apart from many other similar books for beginners.

The jury praises the author's original and creative storytelling. Margreet de Heer succeeds in creating a cheerful adventure in images and with only monosyllabic words (which beginning readers master). To achieve this, she knows how to use this limited number of words in the right place in her story. That is impressive when you only have so few words at your disposal. The jury is certain that this 'smile book' will make beginning readers fall in love with reading books themselves. In a time when unfortunately fewer and fewer children read for pleasure, Margreet de Heer wants her book to let children experience how much fun reading can be as early as possible.

Yeah baby!

Chick and cat

I tried to translate the first part of ‘Kip en Kat’ in English using only monosyllabic words, which I almost succeed at, sort of:

What happens next is a thrilling tale of wild adventure, friendship and personal growth… in just 27 pages!

I’m extremely proud and stoked about this and will celebrate wildly for a few days - then it’s back to the drawing board to work on… part two! The sequel to this prize-winning epic will come out in October: