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What Ollie Saw – Dutch children’s picture book and animation out now

An illustration of a pig with glasses and a hat on the cover of children’s picture book What Ollie Saw

@ Levine Querido, illustration by Sieb Posthuma

Tue, Jun 1 - Wed, Jun 30  2021

“What Ollie Saw”: Publication of successful Dutch children’s picture book by Joukje Akveld and Sieb Posthuma – available as animation by Dreamscape

In April of this year, book publisher Levine-Querido released the English translation of the Dutch picture book “What Ollie Saw” in the USA.

WHAT OLLIE SAW has been written by Dutch author Joukje Akveld and has been illustrated by Sieb Posthuma. The Dutch to English translation was prepared by Bill Nagelkerke. At the start of the Never Grow Up! focus program, Arthur Levine started his new publishing house Levine Querido and created a special partnership with Dutch publisher Querido to publish and distribute renowned Dutch books from the so-called Em Querido list in the United States. More info and videos on the book can be found on the website of Levine Querido.

Synopsis of What Ollie Saw

Ollie doesn’t see things the same way everybody else does (and he certainly doesn’t see things the same way his older sister does). Instead of cars in traffic, Ollie sees a circus parade. Instead of cows grazing in a field, Ollie sees deadly bison with sharp horns and hooves. And at school, instead of letters on the board, Ollie sees birds with pointy beaks, and fish with flapping tails in the big blue sea.

Ollie knows he doesn’t need glasses, because he likes the world better the way he sees it. But will his parents and bossy sister see things his way?

The book is available online and in local bookshops.

Read more about Never Grow Up! to discover additional children’s books by clicking on this link.

Animation by Dreamscape

Dreamscape creates iconographic videos of picture books whilst remaining true to the illustrations and text and recently added a video of the Dutch children’s book What Ollie Saw. The video is around 10 minutes long and available through library and retail channels offering children’s literature. Check out the trailer below:

Trailer of the What Ollie Saw animation by Dreamscape

About the Creators:

ABOUT JOUKJE AKVELD
Joukje Akveld studied Dutch and has worked for various publishing houses. As a journalist, she writes about children’s books and theatre for newspapers and magazines, while also writing her own books.

ABOUT SIEB POSTHUMA
Sieb Posthuma was an award-winning Dutch illustrator whose books have been published around the world. His work has been adapted into television shows, theater, opera, and shown in numerous expositions.

ABOUT BILL NAGELKERKE
Bill Nagelkerke is a prolific children’s writer, translator, and former librarian. His stories, poems and plays have appeared in many New Zealand anthologies. In 2013 Nagelkerke was awarded the Storylines Margaret Mahy Medal and Lecture Award in recognition of his dedicated contribution to children’s literature and literacy in New Zealand.

DutchCulture USA