ReviewWhen the saintly man has arrived in our country on Saturday, there can again be plenty of singing and reading about Sinterklaas. But from which books do we do that these days? Since the sensitive discussions around the party, new forms have been sought. Children’s book critic Jaap Friso sees that many existing Sinterklaas books can still be used after a small adjustment.
Classic by master storyteller Biegel
Perhaps the most beautiful ‘new’ Sinterklaas book of this year is based on a story that is more than forty years old by master fairy tale teller Paul Biegel. He wrote ‘Santa Claus’ clothes‘ in 1979; in 2014 it appeared as a picture book with illustrations by Sanne te Loo. Eight years later there is already a new version, without (Zwarte) Pieten. The story is about a girl who secretly looks in a large suitcase in the guest room and discovers that it contains the clothes of Sinterklaas. Anouk tells her classmates that Sinterklaas is staying at her house, but they don’t believe much of it. Her efforts to prove it come to nothing, until her father comes up with a good idea.
This book is in line with the experiences of many families in the run-up to the Sinterklaas party. How do we make it fun but also make sure that the children don’t notice anything? The play with the deception, which it ultimately is, and the mystery that it entails, is what makes it so much fun to a certain extent. But the tension should not be too high and nothing should really go wrong. Anouk unintentionally gets her parents into trouble with her announcements about the so-called guest Santa Claus. Fortunately, they come up with a solution just in time that offers the perfect outcome for everyone. For example, Anouk is the hero in her own story when she is sitting at the kitchen table in her own house with her classmates and Sinterklaas.
Anouk’s curious excitement is especially noticeable in the nocturnal prints in which she lies brooding and dreaming about the mystery of Saint Nicholas. Sanne te Loo gives this warm Sinterklaas story an appropriate, nostalgic glow with the new illustrations.
The Clothes of Sinterklaas by Paul Biegel and Sanne te Loo, Gottmer, 4+
One custom pie
‘Sinterklaas, come in with your pete, because we are ready as you can see.’ A fox sees the steamer docking from the forest and seems to think: “He won’t sneak past our house after all”. He informs the other animals: “Who comes sailing there from Spain every year?” After which the fox sits in front of the fire singing: “Throw something in my shoe.” It will all work out: the animals in the forest celebrate the Sinterklaas feast in their own way with full dedication.
‘Sees the moon shines through the trees’ by Mies van Hout is based entirely on Sinterklaas songs in which the lyrics tell the story. A single pietje has been adapted in this book from 2010 so that it is ready for a new period. The Sinterklaas party doesn’t get much more romantic than in this song book. There is a thick carpet of snow and inside the fire crackles. A timeless reading and singing book in which all known text fragments fall wonderfully into place. Up to and including the gingerbread in Piet’s flat rear tire.
See the moon shining through the trees (Sinterklaas songs) by Mies van Hout, Gottmer, 2+
‘I’ll leave, but come back every year’
‘Sinterklaas is the sweetest Sinterklaas there is.’ This book is worth reading for this touchingly beautiful sentence alone. Balotje is delighted after the saint’s visit to her family. She is a real fan and cannot understand that he is going back to Spain. Slightly bewildered, she stands on the quay with her pink bicycle, where it is explained to her that he will not return until next year. ‘I want it to be next year now’, she thinks. But first it is Easter and summer and yes, finally he is back. Her fear that Sinterklaas has forgotten her turns out to be unjustified. Of course he still remembers who Balotje is. “I’ll leave, but I’ll come back to you every year.”
Balotje is one of the best-known characters from the oeuvre of two-time Golden Brush winner Yvonne Jagtenberg and it is great that this Sinterklaas book is available again. Because it’s less conventional than most, especially because of the robust prints. The story is just as heartwarming and ends as it should with ‘Thank you, Sinterklaasje.’
Balotje and Sinterklaas by Yvonne Jagtenberg, Gottmer, 4+
slow sinter turtle
In pretty much the only brand new Sinterklaas book of this year, all Sinterklaas are animals. Among other things, a rhinoceros, mammoth, sheep and penguin wear a miter as a saint on duty. Edward van de Vendel wrote fanciful and playful verses about all these Sinterklaas. The Sinterhond takes care of the Sinterklaas: ‘It will be a terrible fight / with two torn miters. / Sacred animals in real life / are rude biters.’ The best poem in the collection is about the pete election in which one animal after another does not pass the audition. The hippopotamus is overcome by a fear of heights on the roof and the deer Piet remains hanging on the coat rack with its antlers.
Van de Vendel and illustrator Saskia Halfmouw enlarge the properties and characteristics of the animal species. The Magpie Sint steals the presents back and the sinter tortoise takes years to get to the Netherlands from Spain.
The secret expectation that at the end a human claus will appear does not come true. Too bad because that would have made it more of a round and understandable story for children.
The Penguinsint and Other Animal Classes by Edward van de Vendel and Saskia Halfmouw, Querido, 6+
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