A pond full of ink

Annie M.G. Schmidt is a household name in the Netherlands, where almost everyone can sing at least one of her songs or recite a couple of lines of her poetry. The jury of the Hans Christian Andersen Award, which she won in 1988, praised her for her `ironic tone, witty criticism and a style that is amusing, clear, rebellious and simple to its essence .

David Colmer has produced sparkling new translations for this collection of her most iconic children s poems, illustrator Sieb Posthuma presents his own colourful take on Schmidt s universe, and Irma Boom s design turns it all into a dazzling whole.