Bette Westera

Bette Westera (2016 in the children and youth program of the International Literature Festival Berlin )

Bette Westera (born June 20, 1958 in Velp , Gelderland province , Netherlands ) is a Dutch writer. Since 1999 she has written 31 picture books / children's books , two of which are also available in German translation. Her best-known book is Doodgewoon (2015, Gerall & Nirgends , 2016), which was awarded the Gouden Griffel in 2015.

Life

Bette Westera was born in Velp in the Netherlands. Shortly after she was born, her parents moved with her to the west of the country. At the age of four, Bette had the desire to become a teacher later. At the age of fourteen, Bette moved to Leiden with her parents . After she finished school, she went to college of education. But she soon decided that the job of teacher was not the right one for her. From 1993 to 2001, Bette Westera worked at the Franciscaans Milieuproject Stoutenburg.

In 2016 she was a member of the jury for The Extraordinary Book of the Children and Youth Program of the Berlin International Literature Festival .

Today Bette Westera lives in Stoutenburg with her three children .

Literary work

Westera made her debut with her children's Bible series Heb je wel gehoord , which she wrote with her mother between 1990 and 1995. Today Westera writes stories, poems and picture books. Together with her husband Diederik van Essel, Westera also composes children's songs. Many of the songs and melodies were written to accompany Westera's children's books musically. In addition to her job as a writer, Bette Westera has translated numerous children's and poetry books. She usually translates from English and American, but sometimes also from French, Danish, German and Norwegian. From the popular American children's author Dr. Seuss translated thirteen books for Westera, including "Green Eggs with Ham" and "The Cat in the Hat".

Your first children's book Wil je met me trouwen? was published in 1999 by the Dutch publisher Gottmer in Dutch. The book tells the story of Sofie who has no siblings to play with and who therefore sets out to disguise herself as a bride to find a husband. The best-known work is Doodgewoon , published in 2014 by the Dutch publisher Gottmer , which was also published in 2016 by Susanna Rieder in Germany as Überall & Nirgends . Doodgewoon was awarded the Gouden Griffel and the Woutertje Pieterse Prijs (2015) in 2015. The newspaper Het Parool commented “Of unparalleled beauty” (Het Parool). The De Telegraaf wrote: "A masterpiece, a must for young and old." The jury of the Woutertje Pieterse Prijs praised “Poems and illustrations that not only deal with the huge subject of death, but also get to grips with it, embrace it, keep it at a safe distance and value it - all at once in one great book. ".

Nominations and Awards

Bette Westera received various awards for his literary work. The most important ones were the Gouden Griffel (2015) and the Woutertje Pieterse Prijs (2015). She also received:

• 2001: Vlag & Wimpel for Een opa om nooit te vergeten
• 2006: Vlag & Wimpel for Grandma's rommelkamer
• 2011: Zilveren stylus for Ik empty je liedjes van require, en aan je apenstaartje hangen
• 2013: Gouden Penseel for Aan de kant, ik ben je oma niet
• 2013: Vlag & Pennant for Dat zou ik nooit doen!
• 2013: Vlag & Wimpel for Aan de kant, ik ben je oma niet!
• 2015: Vlag & Wimpel for Kietel nooit een krokodil
• 2015: Zilveren stylus for Doodgewoon
• 2015: Woutertje Pieterse Prijs for Doodgewoon
• 2015: Gouden stylus for Doodgewoon

Works

• Wil je met me trouwen? Gottmer, Haarlem 1999, ISBN 90-257-3106-6 .
• with Harmen van Straaten: Een opa om nooit te vergeten . Davidsfonds / infodok, Leuven 2001, ISBN 90-261-2781-2 . (German: Jan will never forget his grandfather . Andrea Grotelüschen (translation). Lappan , Oldenburg 2001, ISBN 3-8303-1024-2 )
• with Barbara de Wolf (illustration): Alle hens aan dek . Hilleboeken, Amsterdam 2002, ISBN 90-76766-44-4 .
• with Imme Dros, Remco Ekkers, Karel Eykman, Ton Honig, Gerrie Huiberts, Sjoerd Kuyper (text) and Guida Joseph (illustration): Het hoogste woord . De Fontein, Utrecht 2003, ISBN 90-261-1907-0 .
• with Sylvia Weve (illustration): De raadselridder . Hilleboeken, Amsterdam 2003, ISBN 90-76766-69-X .
• with Sylvia Weve (illustration): Ra ra, wie ben ik? Hilleboeken, Amsterdam 2004, ISBN 90-76766-73-8 .
• with Montse Gisbert (illustration): Ik geef je een zoen . Hilleboeken, Amsterdam 2004, ISBN 90-77750-01-0 .
• with Barbara de Wolf (illustration): Grandma's Rommelkamer . Hilleboeken, Amsterdam 2005, ISBN 90-8576-010-0 .
• with Barbara de Wolf (illustration): Krullen en blubbershampoo . De Fontein, Utrecht 2007, ISBN 978-90-261-2380-1 .
• with Sylvia Weve (illustration): Peer Gynt . Gottmer, Haarlem 2007, ISBN 978-90-257-4245-4 .
• with Paula Gerritsen (illustration): Zeg maar tegen de juf dat ik wat later kom . De Fontein, Utrecht 2008, ISBN 978-90-261-2561-4 .
• with Barbara de Wolf (illustration) and Diederik van Essel (music): Mijn zuje achter het behang: familiepoezie . De Fontein, Utrecht 2008, ISBN 978-90-261-2471-6 .
• with Eric Carle (illustration): Eric Carle's dieren ABC . Gottmer, Haarlem 2008, ISBN 978-90-257-3127-4 .
• with Sylvia Weve (illustration): Ober! He twists a kwal door mijn soep . De Fontein, Utrecht 2009, ISBN 978-90-261-2666-6 .
• with Sylvia Weve (illustration): Ik empty je liedjes van require, en aan je apenstaartje hangen . Gottmer, Haarlem 2010, ISBN 978-90-257-4741-1 .
• with Philip Hopman (illustration): Hét lijfboek . Gottmer, Haarlem 2010, ISBN 978-90-257-4494-6 .
• with Suzanne Diederen (illustration): Zullen we zwaaien . Gottmer, Haarlem 2011, ISBN 978-90-257-4982-8 .
• with Loes Riphagen (illustration): Miniheksen . De Fontein, Utrecht 2011, ISBN 978-90-261-3450-0 .
• Linda de Haan (illustration): De vrolijke tweeling . Gottmer, Haarlem 2012, ISBN 978-90-257-5109-8 .
• with Naomi Tieman (text) and Sylvia Weve (illustration): Dat zou ik nooit doen! De Fontein, Utrecht 2012, ISBN 978-90-261-3339-8 .
• with Loes Riphagen (illustration): Ik wil een walvis! Gottmer, Haarlem 2012, ISBN 978-90-257-5110-4 .
• Sylvia Weve (illustration): Aan de kant, ik ben je oma niet! Gottmer, Haarlem 2012, ISBN 978-90-257-5075-6 .
• with Jolet Leenhouts (illustration): Niet zoenen op de trampoline . De Fontein, Utrecht 2013, ISBN 978-90-261-3283-4 .
• with Thé Tjong-Khing (illustration): Held op sokken . Gottmer, Haarlem 2013, ISBN 978-90-257-4999-6 .
• with Sylvia Weve (illustration): Doodgewoon . Gottmer, Haarlem 2014, ISBN 978-90-257-6235-3 . (German: Überall & Nirgends . Rolf Erdorf (translation). Susanna Rieder Verlag, Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3-946100-09-6 )
• with Thé Tjong-Khing (illustration): Kietel nooit een krokodil . Gottmer, Haarlem 2014, ISBN 978-90-257-5913-1 .
• with Alex de Wolf (illustration): Een vreemd feestje . Gottmer, Haarlem 2014, ISBN 978-90-257-5792-2 .
• with Sylvia Weve (illustration): Haasje Repje . Gottmer, Haarlem 2015, ISBN 978-90-257-6114-1 .
• with Klaas Verplancke (text): Raad wat praat . Terra Lannoo, Houten 2015, ISBN 978-94-014-2432-5 .
• with Henriette Boerendans (illustration): Aap Beer Zebra . Gottmer, Haarlem 2016, ISBN 978-90-257-6238-4 .
• with Jan Jutte (illustration): Baby'tje in mama's buik . Gottmer, Haarlem 2016, ISBN 978-90-257-6185-1 .

Web links

• Website
• Westera's biography on De Fontein's publishing websites

Individual evidence

1. ^ Jury decision 2015 , Woutertje Pieterse Prijs, accessed on June 12, 2016 (Dutch)
2. ↑ Publishing program autumn 2016  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Susanne Rieder Verlag, accessed on June 12, 2016.