W

hile rocket ships, infallible superheroes and pretty princesses seem to be the stuff of contemporary children’s literature, Dutch children’s tales and fables focus on themes of everyday life in their purest form.

A spectrum of characters, from a Dutch Red Riding Hood to talking eagles wearing waistcoats, were rendered in chalk, pastels, coloring pencil and watercolor paints — the same media that is used in any preschool art class.

For this reason, the drawings immediately endear themselves to children, and with their minimalist style — ink and pencil scrawls à la Roald Dahl illustrator Quentin Blake — give a vicarious peek into a child’s version of the world; where dogs, monkeys and mice wear clothes and walk on their hind legs.

Aimed at four to 13-year-old children, the 52 featured books at the ongoing Dutch Children’s Book Illustrations exhibition at Erasmus Huis include Yvonne Jagtenberg’s Balotje en het paard (Balotje and the Horse); Mieke de Jong’s recently screen-adapted Iep! (Elm) and Dick Bruna’s Boris en Barbara (Boris and Barbara).

Balotje’s beach ball face, round eyes and shy smile show a little girl who is fascinated by the world around her yet not entirely sure how to take it on.

Her emotions — happy, sad, scared, angry — are mediated in the curve of her tiny mouth and the swivel of her enormous pupils.

Hence, despite the limited dialogue, children can relate to Balotje on an emotional level. Balotje’s curiosity and waywardness represent the unquestioning way children follow their impulses, unable to distinguish right from wrong.

Meet the world’s most famous rabbit: Njintje bunny, known in the Anglophone world as “Miffy”. Another brainchild of Dick Bruna, Miffy has found her way onto postage stamps, iPhone covers and international television.

The boldly-outlined white rabbit, with her indifferent dot eyes and x-shaped mouth, is depicted in the throes of toddlerhood’s many trials, such as her first day
of school, expecting a new sibling and making friends at the playground.

The Miffy books have sold 85 million copies; undoubtedly owing to Bruna’s ability to pare down such daunting experiences as the death of a loved one into bite sizes, such as in Dear Grandma Bunny, which opens with “Why is Miffy so unhappy? On her cheek a tear is bright. Do you know why she is crying? Miffy’s grandma died last night.”

A more mature variation on the theme of death is S. Kuyper’s Sjaantje doet alsof (Sjaantje Pretends), illustrated by Daan Remmerts de Vries.

Dealing also with the loss of a grandparent, the story tells of young Sjaantje’s faith that her grandfather lives on, even if only in memory. Kuyper creates an absorbing magical realist world: an otherwise true-to-real-life milieu but for grandma’s parrot, which sits in an easy chair reading the paper, the leaves raining from the sky and that grandpa seems as real as the light of day.

The dreamlike illustrations, made of paint layered over crepe paper, augment the magical realist dimension.

Through the use of brazen colors and Sjaantje’s unshakeable imagination, Kuyper teaches us that we can channel our grief into something positive: cherishing our memories of the deceased.

The exhibition is the first of its kind, an ambitious stab at introducing otherwise little-known Dutch literature to Indonesia — save for Pietje Bell (Peter Bell) by Gaat Vliegen, which was required reading in the 1920’s and 30’s school curriculum during the Dutch occupation.

The perpetually winking, mischievous-grin sporting Peter Bell is a classic example of a rascal with good intentions. Targeting the preteen set, the book’s oil painting illustrations tend more toward realism than minimalism yet still incorporate oodles of colour.

In Dutch literature, illustrations are a stalwart of storytelling. They project themes of self-doubt, the intimidation of the unfamiliar and other growing-up gripes onto lovable characters which, like the readers, must stumble before finding their footing.

“Children must first be intrigued by the pictures in a picture book before they will be willing to read the text,” said Anton Holtzapffel, the curator and Erasmus Huis’ head librarian who carefully selected extracts for the exhibition.

If the wherewithal can be amassed — translators, publishing deals and a long-term game plan — someday we might be able to walk into a Gramedia book store and see these brilliant books cum works of art on the shelves. In the meantime, swing by the Erasmus Huis and be vividly reminded of how it feels to be five feet tall and full of dreams.