Lida Dijkstra’s De wonderverteller (The Wonder Storyteller) has been awarded the 2025 Gouden Griffel, the prize for the best-written children’s book in the Netherlands. The author was surprised on Wednesday, September 24th, during a guest lecture at primary school IBS ‘t Pompebled in De Westereen. The winners of the Gouden Griffel and Gouden Penseel (for illustrator Natascha Stenvert) were announced in the lead-up to Children’s Book Week, which begins Wednesday, October 1st.
The Griffel jury on De wonderverteller:
“Giving famous stories a new life. That is Lida Dijkstra’s strength. In De wonderverteller, she goes even further by demonstrating how stories can be told within the narrative. The jury is deeply impressed by the way the author brings history to life in a new form. De wonderverteller is captivating in its adventure and heartwarming in the characters it depicts. Besides her considerable craftsmanship, this book exudes great freedom, playfulness, and literary power.”
Lida Dijkstra (born 1961) studied art history and archaeology in Leiden and has been a full-time children’s book writer in Frisian and Dutch since 1992. She creates picture books, books for beginning readers, and young adult novels full of imagination, humor, and inspiration from (art) history. From 2020 to 2022, she was the Frisian children’s book ambassador.
