Kranendonk, Anke 1959-

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KRANENDONK, Anke 1959-

PERSONAL: Born 1959, in Baarn, Netherlands. Education: Attended a sports academy; studied acting in Amsterdam, Netherland.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Front Street, Inc., 862 Haywood Rd., Asheville, NC 28806; fax: 828-221-2112.

CAREER: Children's book author, singer, and actress. Founder of Dear Jan (theater company).

AWARDS, HONORS: Finalist, UNESCO Young Children's Book Prize, 1999, for How Are You? Fine.

WRITINGS:

Opa Voor Opa, translation by Eric van Deventer, published as A Grandpa Cookie for Grandpa, High/Scope Press (Ypsilanti, MI), 1997.

Just a Minute!, illustrated by Jung-Hee Spetter, Front Street Books (Asheville, NC), 1998.

Also author of Crying Makes You Thirsty, How Are You? Fine, I'll Never Be Normal, Friend, and Bye, Boet.

Kranendonk's books have been translated into many languages, including Irish, Arabic, Turkish, and Japanese.

WORK IN PROGRESS: A solo musical for children.

SIDELIGHTS: Dutch-born children's book author Anke Kranendonk is also a singer, an actress, and the founder of her own theater company. Her books range from the highly serious to the purely comic. How Are You? Fine, a finalist for the 1999 UNESCO Young Children's Book Prize, tells the story of Don, a boy who longs to be skating but is often home and ill. He finally decides to tell his friends the real reason: he has AIDS. By contrast, A Grandpa Cookie for Grandpa concerns a young boy who is so anxious to help his mother make cookies that he starts without her, with chaotic results. In Just a Minute!, another humorous look at childish impatience, a frisky piglet grows tired of waiting for his busy mother to pay attention to him. While mother pig does the washing and other household chores, the piglet splashes in the tub, swings from the chandelier, and buries himself in clutter. Soon he is the one saying "Just a minute," while his mother looks for him in her ruined house. "Kids are likely to find the mayhem hilarious," noted a Publishers Weekly reviewer. Booklist contributor Hazel Rochman commended "the sly, minimalist text and the detailed, messy pictures" by artist Jung-Hee Spetter.