Bibi Dumon Tak, Annemarie van Haeringen – Siens Hemel

Book coverBibi Dumon Tak, Annemarie van Haeringen – Siens Hemel
Book coverBibi Dumon Tak, Annemarie van Haeringen – Siens Hemel
Book coverBibi Dumon Tak, Annemarie van Haeringen – Siens Hemel
Book coverBibi Dumon Tak, Annemarie van Haeringen – Siens Hemel

It is the illustrator who makes a particular contribution to the beauty of this little book for children. The type is too small relative to the image, and the paper is just a little too stiff, but it is a lovingly made book. The subject is the death of a family pet, and it is depicted in a beautiful succession of pictures: from a black cloud on a white background to a white cloud on a black background. As the book progresses, so Sien the dog comes into view as each spread zooms further back to reveal more of what at first looks like a torn-paper shape of a black body and ends as a line drawing of a small dog on a white cloud. This small, atmospheric book is proof that death, which these days receives more attention than it used to in writing for young people, need not necessarily be writ so large.

Edition: 2016
Language: Dutch
Final editor: Dik Zweekhorst
Publisher: Em. Querido's Kinderboeken Uitgeverij, Amsterdam
Designer: Tessa van der Waals, Amsterdam
Lithographer: robstolk, Amsterdam
Printer: robstolk, Amsterdam (printed in HR-UV offset with extended colours and skeleton black)
Binder: Van Waarden, Zaandam
Dimensions: 150 x 200 x 3
Amount of pages: 32 p.
Number of copies: 2,500
Price: € 12.50
ISBN: 978 90 451 1905 2
Font and foundry: Dolly Pro (Underware)
Binding style: sewn hardback, the first and last pages are the endpapers
Material: 160gsm Rough White (interior), 140gsm Muskat Grey over 1.5 mm grey board (binding)