Fiep Westendorp illustrations

A while ago the Fundatie Museum in Zwolle presented a small exhibition showing a number of orginal illustrations made by Fiep Westendorp (1916-2004). Westendorp was a very well known Dutch illustrator for children's books. The drawing above is a nice example. The text ('t is altijd Big Ben weer!) means: it's always Big Ben weather!

Three generations (including myself) grew up by knowing her for her drawings in B&W in 'Jip en Janneke', a series of children's books written by Annie M.G. Schmidt. They tell about the lives of 2 children, together wit Takkie the dog and Siepie the cat. The books are known for its simplicity and wit, and are still popular these days.

Train travel and reading

 "Lekker lezen doe je in de trein" ("Comfortably reading in the train") is a campaign of the Dutch Railways (NS) with which they hope to encourage and inspire travelers to read in the train. Train travel and reading just go hand-in-hand, they say, and I think that's very true! They are also known to support a number of important and well-known Dutch reading and literacy campaigns.
This was the train that took us from The Hague to Zwolle, Saturday a few weeks ago.

 Near the doors of the train part of a page of several books were displayed, like here from Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert.
I´m not sure though if this would be the book I´d choose to read in the train, a thriller or detective is more my thing..  How about you?

Books books books!

It´s the first Sunday of August which means the annual book fair in Deventer! There were 878 market stalls in total this year with mostly second hand books in any genre that you can possibly think of.

Though the day started sunny it became cloudy soon, however with temperatures of about 20°C (68°F) it was perfect to spend some hours here.
And with a catch of 5 books we have enough to read in the coming weeks :)

Inside Waanders

For me a trip to Zwolle includes a visit to Waanders; the modern bookstore inside the 15th century Broeren Church, aka 'Waanders in de Broeren'. (I posted a few photos of the interior before in March of this year, if you would like to see them you are of course very welcome to click on the label below this post.)
This is another image taken last Saturday.

Het Gelezen Boek

Another sign photographed during our visit to the book fair in Deventer, earlier this month. 'Het Gelezen Boek' ('The Read Book') is an antiquarian bookshop in the Walstraat.

I'm linking to signs, signs.

Bicycling sport books

A sign saying ´Wielersport Boeken´ ('Bicycling sport books'), spotted in Deventer last Sunday. And I also like the way how the window above the entrance door has been decorated!


Linking to signs, signs.

Deventer book fair

 We visited the Deventer book fair this weekend, a huge event that takes place each year on the first Sunday of August.

A total of 878 market stalls through the city streets and along the IJssel River were selling books: novels, history books, comic books, thrillers, childrens books etc etc

This photo is from the central square, and taken in the morning when it wasn't very crowded yet. According to the news that we heard later, 130,000 people visited Deventer on this day.

Waanders once more

 Following up on yesterday's post, these are two more views from inside 'Waanders in de Broeren'. Here I am standing on the third floor on one side of the church and looking down to the other side. As you can see the view is very open. The Dutch words 'Willen weten' there on the white part mean 'Want to know'.

And the organ of the Broeren Church "watches over" the people in the bookstore.

Waanders bookstore

'Waanders in de Broeren' is a modern bookstore in the 15th century Broeren church in the city centre of Zwolle, offering books, lectures, expositions, and there's a cafe-restaurant as well.

Somehow the modern interior of Waanders with 3 floors on both sides fit very well with the (still present) historical character of the church, with an organ on one side and a stained-glass window to the other. I noticed a lot of people just standing and looking around, taking photos. A remarkable place!

For more info click on their site (only in Dutch) HERE.

Take a book, return a book

From what I´ve read there are many Little Free Libraries in the Netherlands already, but this one in the Texel island village of Den Burg was actually the first one that I have seen here. I must say I love the idea and hope a lot of Dutch people agree with me :)  As the text on it is in English I guess this little library was imported, in Dutch they are called ´straatbieb´.
If you're new to it and would like to read more, click HERE for their official website.

Museum library

A long table with art books giving background information about the current exhibitions in museum Het Valkhof, Nijmegen.

Book Fair

We visited the annual Deventer Book Fair today. With 6 km of books altogether it is the biggest book fair in Europe. Thousands of people come here every year..

.. and they buy books on every single subject you can think of..

book covers

Collected book covers in museum De Buitenplaats in Eelde, currently showing an exhibition of Dutch writer Dick Bruna. Bruna is best known for his children's books with Miffy (in Dutch known as 'Nijntje'), however he also illustrated and designed book covers, posters and promotional materials for his father's publishing company A.W. Bruna and Zoon. His most recognized illustrations were for the 'Zwarte Beertjes' series of books, including The Saint, James Bond, Simenon, and Shakespeare.

books

Met dit koude en natte weer is het soms maar het beste om van een mooi boek te genieten..

With this cold and wet weather it's sometimes best to enjoy a good book..