Since I’ve been trying to catch up with my journal setup after the delay in March, I decided to keep it very simple for April’s theme. I chose ‘Jip and Janneke‘, a children’s book that is near and dear to my heart. While it is undoubtedly a staple in the Netherlands, it is much less known across the world. This month’s theme features its iconic illustrations, by Fiep Westendorp.

For the cover page, I chose the illustration that goes with the first story in the book, in which Jip and Janneke meet for the first time. Jip finds a hole in the hedge, through which his new neighbour Janneke is peering back at him. From then on the tale of their friendship is told through the more than 200 short stories that are collected in the book that has sat on my bookshelves for at least 25 years. I grew up on these stories, and I read them to my son as well. The popular collection of stories is still read to this day by (grand)parents, teachers and children alike.

The first time the public met these two characters, as well as their dog Takkie and cat Siepie, was in 1952 when they were introduced in short stories that were published weekly in the ‘Parool’ newspaper. Over the years their appearance changed, and their surroundings were updated with modernised details.

‘Jip is de meester’ – 1952
‘Jip is de meester’ – 1963
‘Jip is de meester’ – 1978

For my journal I chose to stick to the version I know best, which is the simple black and white depicition of two stocky toddlers with pointy noses and little neckless bodies.

I preferred to draw in black and white
— Fiep Westendorp

As I leafed through the pages of my book copy, searching to find illustrations to scan, I predictably ended up rereading some of the stories. It’s impressive how author Annie M. G. Schmidt depicted what goes on in the minds of children. This is something all of the children’s books that I’ve used as inspiration seem to have in common, which may explain their success.

I chose to create handdrawn lines to seperate my daily journal entries, to fit the scratchy nature of the illustrations. The only pops of colour come from a set of markers I bought for filling out my trackers. They are double sided, with one side having a cute little stamp with a sillhouette of Takkie or Siepie that I intend to use for my mood tracker. I’m excited to see what that looks like at the end of the month!

I’m so happy that Jip and Janneke have made it into my journal. They are linked to some of my happiest memories and it will be a joy to meet them again each day throughout the month of April.

I can’t recommend this book enough if you have kids to read these stories to. I would say they are appropriate for children ranging from 3 to about 7 or 8 years old. While not all of the stories have aged well – organic waste is no longer collected by a man going door to door with his horse drawn cart – generally speaking their timeless nature predicts that they’re here to stay for a long time to come. I for one can’t imagine a Dutch society in which there are no Jip and Janneke.