Guus Kuijer. Award Laureate 2012 1
“I’m deeply grateful to receive this award. I hop
e that it will positively influence the position of children’s literature in the Netherlands and abroad.” Guus Kuijer, March 20, 2012 dementia, as Florian and his classmate Katja soon realize. But how can they help her? And is it really any stranger to refer to keys as forks than to drink beer for breakfast like Katja’s father? Florian realizes that there are some problems that adults have to fix for themselves, but that friendship across the generational divide is both possible and rewarding. The uncompromising perspective of the child is a consistent feature in Guus Kuijer’s works, but at the same time, through his young protagonists, he paints a perceptive picture of the adult world. With humanity and warmth he portrays a complex world in unpretentious and subtle language.