Wally de Doncker’s Books

 

 

 

English French Dansk Deutsch Chinese

 

 

‘Wally de Doncker again and again tackles themes which are scarcely touched upon in contemporary children’s literature.’

(International Literature Festival Berlin 2009)

 

 

Wally de Doncker was born in 1958 in the Flemish town of Tielt. One of his main aims is to bring children and literature closer together. For this reason he gave up his career as a teacher in 2001 to concentrate on writing. In 1996 he developed a method for reading aloud and learning to read in primary school, »Leesdraak« (t: Reading Dragon), which is now widely used in Flemish-speaking regions. He also writes on topics international children’s literature for national and international magazines and journals.

 

His books have received numerous nominations and international selections. In addition, several of his works have been adapted as stage plays and musicals, film animations and dance films.

 

»Ahum« (2000, tr: Hm-hm) concerns the inhabitants of Toesjepa, who have everything: work, cars, houses, and entertainment. Everything is uniform, orderly, and all inhabitants are equal – in their solitude, as well. With suscpicion they observe the two strangers in their midst, whose togetherness is so radically different from the inhabitants’ lives. The decidedly critical undertone in this story about the courage to be different, and individuality in a uniform society, was remarked upon by the critic Jant van der Weg in the newspaper »Friesch Dagblad«: »What happiness is, this kind of people do not know. Everything is captured in patterns, there is work for everyone and televi - sion games entertain them. The inhabitants of Toesjepa all look the same. Their clothes remind us of Mao-suits in China. A socially critical tone is adopted in a very poetic way through word and collage.«

 

 

The existential question of individual meaning also concerns the O in »Het verhaal van O« (2007, tr: The True Story of O). The O is perfectly formed yet does not feel that it belongs either as a letter or as a number, and feels instead an indescribable void which is focused on the quest for its own meaning.

 

 

In his most recent children’s book »Het begint ergens« (2009, t: It Starts Somewhere) the author discusses the effects of global climate change on life, in this case on the lives of the animals on our planet.

 

 

Wally de Doncker again and again tackles themes which are scarcely touched upon in contemporary children’s literature. With sensitivity, but directness, in »Een opa met gaatjes « (1996, t: What’s Wrong With Grandpa?), for example, he describes aspects of the mental and physical decay of old people.

 

© international literaturefestival berlin

 

 

 

Denmark:

 

 

‘Animal talk’ published in Danish

(Turbine Forlaget, 2011)

 

The Netherlands:

 

‘It Starts Somewhere’ in

Dutch Children’s Books Museum (The Hague)

 

 

 

 

It starts somewhere

 

selected for The White Ravens 2010

 

- an annual collection of outstanding international books

 

 

 

 

theme: global warming

 

First international review:

 

After a heavy storm ravages his own garden and knocks down a tree that kills a goat, the author lets his dog Spot and his cat Mouse tell a story about global warming and its consequences. The animals are more sensitive to the approaching danger than humans, even the gulls shriek that the North and South Poles are melting and insects buzz about climate change. The story reads smoothly, but is not superficial or too casual. The demise of the goat and the enormous damage caused by the storm give the animals reason to reflect on climate change. In the back of the book, various philosophical questions related to the story can be found. The black-and-white illustrations in collage style fit the poetic text remarkable well (8+).

 

(The White Ravens 2010, A selection of International Children’s and Youth Literature, Internationale Jugendbibliothek, Germany)

 

 

 

THE TRUE STORY OF O

 

Illustrated by Jurgen Walschot

 

This book is dedicated to Jella Lepman

 

 

P.16-17

 

O

 

Without beginning, without an end.

 

‘You are perfect.

 

Do you know that?’ they ask.

 

 

I don’t feel perfect.

 

I am empty.

 

I have been emptied.

 

I am a figure

 

AND

 

a letter.

 

 

FIRST REVIEW:

 

Jewel of a picture book

 

A fascinating and stimulating book, like good philosophy should be (Guinevere Claeys , Knack Weekend, March 7,  2007)

 

 

 

 

I MISS MYSELF

 

Dutch/Flemish title               Ik mis me

French title                             Vivre sans moi, je ne peux pas

 

Theatre                   Book                               Film

 

What would it be like if you didn't exist? When you look in the mirror, you see yourself. You are real! You might even look a bit like your mum and dad and yet there is no one quite like you in the whole world.  Imagine, for a moment, that you are not real, that you are not here.   Would the people you know be different? Would the house you live in look different? Would someone or something miss you? ? I Miss Myself asks the fascinating question of how things would be if ‘I’ wasn’t there.

 

I Miss Myself has its starting point in the simple idea that we can change the world merely because we exist, because we are here. Simple language and well-chosen pictures are used to tell the story and make everyone, big and small, think.

 

International Praise and Recognition:

 

Long List, Golden Owl Children's Literature, 2002

Livre de Flash, 2003

French translation by Etre, Paris 2003

Theatre Production, Le Mal du Siècle, 2004-2007,

Film Production Sister Without a Sister produced by the ‘Cacao Bleu Collectief’ 2005

Korean translation by Daiwon, Seoul 2006

 

Reviews:

 

Marita Vermeulen (De Standaard) says that “picture after picture, and example after example it becomes clear that the existence of one person is important for the environment in which he or she lives. The layout of the book reflects this feeling visually.. the final sentence is as complex as it is simple: I can not live without me!"

Els Verlinden (Pluizer, Klapper): "When it is done in such a good way, beautifully written and very well illustrated, then I am completely sold'

 

GRUMPY GRANDPA

 

Dutch/Flemish title                Een opa met gaatjes

German title                          Was ist bloss mit Opa los

Danish title                             Bedstefar med huller i

 

 

Hanne’ s grandfather is feeling too old and too tired to keep living alone. In agreement with his family, he decides to go to a home for elderly people. It is not an easy decision to move far away from his cosy little house, but Hanne visits him often. Sometimes grandfather acts a little strange. He calls her Liesje and asks the same question more than three times in a row. And he keeps forgetting things. At first, Hanne does not understand everything that is happening, but she soon learns to accept her new grandfather just as he is.

 

In Grumpy Grandpa Hanne is always spontaneous and natural around her grandfather and the other elderly people in the home.  When it turns out that he is becoming slower and less clear-headed and competent than she remembers him, she does not care any less for her grandfather. This is a warm and tender story of love.

 

International Praise and Recognition:

 

Shortlist Flemish Children’s Jury

Theatre Performance          1999- 2001, 2006-  Zamzam productions

European Project Kultur 2000

Shortlist Film project Faits Divers 2006

 

Reviews:

 

Birgit de Cnodder (Eigentijds) says that,"this book is a little jewel, a definite 'must'."

 

 

 

I WISH I WERE A DOLL

 

Dutch/Flemish title                Ik wou dat ik een pop was

 

 

 

Chinese translation by publishing house ‘3&3 International 2004

 

Every day you can find Pros on a chair in front of his little house. He loves watching the street. Every time someone passes he waves, but no one answers him.

 

Pros thinks about the past, wanders back into a time when his wife, Annie was still around; when the street was filled with life; when all around him he enjoyed the sounds of laughing children, cheerful songs and talking neighbours: scenes reminiscent of old postcards. Pros can still see it; just as if he were looking at the puppets in a puppet theatre.

 

In I Wish I Were a Doll time stops for a magical moment. Pros and Wally de Doncker look at the busy, rushed world of today; Harmen van Straaten draws the street they see using illustrations that are sober, and inhabiting it with puppets that create a strangely suggestive world..

 

Reviews:

 

Dr. M.L. de Jager (Biblion, NL) considers that the symbolism and the depth of the story make the whole useful for children and many adults will enjoy this work as well.’

 

About the Chinese version:

 

……. The author compares the world to a stage. The actors in the previous play become the audience in the next play. In other words, each member of the audience has his or her own great show belonging to him or herself, just as Jack’s beloved wife, the chattering neighbours, the children at play, the tree that sings, all these actors in Jack’s world, play a happy and contented life show with Jack in it. And when things change; when cars and television come to modernise our world, is this necessarily better? When we stand on the stage perhaps we should think more carefully. What does a better life mean? For whom is it better? When we seek progress and improvement in a hurry do we foolishly ignore or overlook important things? … The book allows children to consider a more complex view of life. It reminds them, for example, that they should care about lonely old people in society’s hidden corners...  As a person, what is the most valuable thing in our lives? As months and years pass, what will remain in our hearts and minds as a ‘never disappearing’ memory?

 

 

 

AHUM

 

 

Toesjepa must be a great country, since everybody who lives there owns a big house. And each Toesjepan can drive around in his own car. Nobody is jealous. Everybody minds his own business and is concerned only with his own life. The Toesjepans have everything, and yet something is missing.

 

A man and a woman live in Toesjepa and they are not real Toesjepans. Nobody knows where they have come from but they know some interesting things about them: these two really talk with each other; they live together; they even touch each other. Imagine that! They are so different!  Ahum, think the Toesjepans .

 

Yes, Toesjepa is a great country but it is also a very strange country. Yes, the Toesjepans have everything they want but who are they really? Are they really as well off as they think?  Like us, do they sometimes rush ahead without thinking, without enjoying the important things? This remarkable story is for readers of all ages.

 

Adapted for the stage and performed at Le Mal du Siecle during 2004 – 2007.

Cartoon Film AHUM 2007

 

Reviews:

 

Jant van der Weg (Friesch Dagblad ,NL) says that the story is very poetic; [it is] a thoughtful song of social criticism captured in words and evocative collage.

 

CHIRRUP, SAYS THE FISH

 

Dutch/Flemish title                Tsjilp, zegt de vis’

 

 

 

Sparrow is sitting next to a ditch. She is fed up. She does not want to be a sparrow any more. She wants to be a peacock. Or a cat. Or a bear. But a sparrow is a sparrow; that is how it has been and how it will always be. There is nothing you can do about it. Or is there?

 

When sparrow meets fish, they become friends. They swim together and have loads of fun. And then sparrow wants to become fish. With the help of a magical spell from mole, suddenly the friends become fish and sparrow and are no longer sparrow and fish. And that is odd... Yet, in her head, fish is still a sparrow; sparrow is still a fish… Nothing or no one can change that - not the toad or the falcon; not the cow or the cuckoo; not the cloud or the sea.

 

Wally de Doncker has used simple words to tell a story that raises a lot of complex questions. Do we always stay the way we are even if we do not want to? Do we stay the same even when others do not want us to? Sparrow knows the answer. So does fish. Dive into the ditch; join them high in the sky.

 

International Praise and Recognition:

 

White Ravens Selection, 2005!

Shortlist Flemish Children’s Jury,  2006

 

Reviews:

A sparrow is looking at her reflection in the water and dreams of being   somebody else. With the help of magic words she swaps bodies with a fish,   while both creatures keep their own minds. Being in somebody else’s body,   however, turns out not to be so easy and sometimes even dangerous. In the end,   the fish wants his own body back but the sparrow refuses. The story is written   in a very poetic style, using only monosyllabic words. The black-and-white   illustrations and the design of the book give the story an extra dimension.   The philosophical idea of the book, i.e. how to deal with your identity even   if you’re not inside your own body, is explained in an easily accessible way   for young children (White Ravens Selection, 2005)

 

 

 SOMETIMES SALT TASTES SWEET

 

Dutch/Flemish title                            Zout is soms zoet

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brent spends every minute of his free time in the saw-mill that belongs to Petrus and Albert. He loves being there in spite of the endless arguments between the two brothers. Brent doesn’t just come to the mill to earn a little extra pocket money; he comes because he loves to listen to Albert’s fantastic stories: the warm, strong bond that Brent enjoys with Albert, makes the loss of his father asier to live with.

 

One day, Albert tells Brent a huge secret, an incredibly big secret! Albert tells him that he has hidden bugging devices in the attic.  Just like an authentic spy, he wants to expose the dangerous reality behind the organisation Pro Violence. Brent gets the difficult task of following Dirk, the village butcher, closely.

 

Wally de Doncker tells an original story about human dreams and disappointments. He explores the importance of fantasy, of the imagination in the lives of children, but also of adults.

 

 

 

MY COUSINS ARE WOLVES

 

 

 

 

Dutch title                  Mijn neefjes zijn wolven

 

Kjelle, whose dream is to be like Superman, often feels lonely. Jaza, the dog and the crazy, kind Rudy are his only friends. At school he often has a hard time and is bullied by Jens, Karl and Stef who sometimes come to the café that his mother runs with her new friend, Jos. Kjelle prefers to keep quiet about the cruel harassment he has to put up with.

 

One day his teacher starts asking difficult questions. Kjelle escapes into his drawings.  Even if he is not ready to talk about the bullying, his drawings tell his story: the little lambs and wolves which he draws again and again are very eloquent. My cousins are Wolves is a book for children of 8 years and up.

 

International Recognition and Praise:

 

Shortlisted Flemish Children’s Jury

Top 3 : Parents Online (The Netherlands)

 

Reviews:

 

Nicoline Veenma (Ouders Online, NL) says that, "De Doncker describes the fear, pain, helplessness and the struggle to respect loyalties with which Kjelle deals in a very gripping way. He explores what the effects of an injustice can be in a very honest and powerful way."