ZEA WAS HERE

ZOOTJE WAS HIER (ZEA WAS HERE)
year:

2004

genre:

first reader, 64 p.

publisher:

De Eenhoorn, Wielsbeke

illustrator:
Carll Cneut
age:

8+
rights sold:
French (Éditions du Rouergue), Portuguese (Brazil, SM).

Still one of my personal favourites. This was my first chance to work with the great Carll Cneut. He made wonderful colour-illustrations for my first reader (short sentences of no more than eight words) about a boy who tries to help two illegal children. Or: 'Hello, my name is Tepper. The children at school tease me about my lazy eye. I hope that you won't do that. Last summer, I found two black boys in my secret hut. They had fled their country and wanted to stay here. As they were not allowed to stay, they went into hiding. We played together all summer and became close friends. After a while, we were four: Zea the ghost had joined us. Or did we only invent her to deal with difficult situations?'       

- A partial translation in German, by Rolf Erdorf, is available.