Movies that don’t run anywhere by composer and aspiring writer Yorick Goldewijk wins the Gouden Griffel. The Golden Brush goes to the picture book Terra ultima by illustrator Raoul Deleo. The Gouden Griffel is the best-known and most important Dutch children’s book prize, which is awarded every year just before the Children’s Book Week.
After graduating from the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten in Utrecht, Goldewijk (43) was mainly active as a composer in a collective that makes music for films, documentaries and computer games. In addition, he has always continued to write since his boyhood. In 2019 he makes a long-cherished dream come true and the first part of the boy series appears Billy extra full throttle, in his own words a book that he himself would have liked to read as a 10-year-old. In addition to a sequel, he makes the picture book Here are dragons, together with his partner Yvonne Lacet. He also illustrated the now award-winning book.
Movies that don’t run anywhere is about the girl Cato. Her mother died at birth and her father has been depressed ever since. A strict, meddling housekeeper ensures that there is food and the toilets are clean, but furthermore makes it very difficult for the wayward Cato.
In an old, neglected cinema, Cato meets Mrs. Kano, who makes lonely and sad people travel back to their fondest memories through a photo projected on the film screen. Although the story starts with very familiar children’s book elements, it has surprising and interesting turns and manages to move the denouement to tears.
The Griffel jury, led by theater director Ernestine Comvalius, chooses with Movies that don’t run anywhere for a children’s book that is somewhat less convincing in form than the high-quality work of more established competitors such as Edward van de Vendel, Anna Woltz and Bette Westera. But just like last year with dude by Pieter Koolwijk, for a pleasantly accessible, promising take on a contemporary classic on a subject that seems to really occupy young readers.
The Golden Brush for Terra ultima, the discovery of an unknown continent by Raoul Deleo, pseudonym for illustrator Raoul de Leeuw (53) is less surprising. Earlier this year, this report of a fantasy expedition to an imaginary world already won the Woutertje Pieterse Prize. The illustrations show imaginative composite animals, such as a snake swan and a turtle jellyfish, that do not exist anywhere else.
Earlier this year, the Granger jury announced no fewer than 45 awards. Only today will the Golden Granger and the Golden Brush be revealed. The winners will be awarded this tonight during a festive children’s book drink in Amsterdam, on the eve of the Children’s Book Week. It starts next Wednesday and lasts from 5 to 16 October. Goldewijk’s books are published by Ploegsma publishing house, Terra ultima is published by Lannoo.