I have a new love affair. Mom and Lyza will understand: it's with a children's book. And it's Dutch.
The Rijksmuseum had a nice little exhibition on recent picture books. De Boomhut - which means "tree house" but is an awesome word in its own right - is a story with no words. Ronald Tolman made an etching of a tree with a house, and engraved it on a series of canvases, which he then sent to his daughter Marije, who drew in the animals and the weather and other details. For me, the book is a story of a growing friendship between two bears over the course of a day, and their delight in the wonder of flamingos and friendship and snow. (I've seen speculation online that the book is really about global warming, but I rather think that cheapens it - why does it have to have a message, other than the joy of seeing the world through a child's eyes?)
I haven't been able to find the book on Amazon, which is a shame, since a book this beautiful deserves a wider audience.
(Illustrations copied from http://elpetittresor.blogspot.com/2010/09/de-boomhut.html)
We were in Amsterdam on Sunday and invested in a pair of museumkaarts: 45 euros for access (theoretically) to over 400 Dutch museums. (Sounds like a challenge to us.) We broke it in on the Rijksmuseum - Holland's equivalent of the National Gallery.
The Rijksmuseum had a nice little exhibition on recent picture books. De Boomhut - which means "tree house" but is an awesome word in its own right - is a story with no words. Ronald Tolman made an etching of a tree with a house, and engraved it on a series of canvases, which he then sent to his daughter Marije, who drew in the animals and the weather and other details. For me, the book is a story of a growing friendship between two bears over the course of a day, and their delight in the wonder of flamingos and friendship and snow. (I've seen speculation online that the book is really about global warming, but I rather think that cheapens it - why does it have to have a message, other than the joy of seeing the world through a child's eyes?)I haven't been able to find the book on Amazon, which is a shame, since a book this beautiful deserves a wider audience.
(Illustrations copied from http://elpetittresor.blogspot.com/2010/09/de-boomhut.html)
is this not it? http://www.amazon.com/Tree-House-Marije-Tolman/dp/1590788060/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1288625652&sr=8-1 Catherine
ReplyDeleteYes! Thanks Aunt Catherine - now everyone knows what they will be getting for Christmas ;-)
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