's Nachts ("At Night," 1999), translated in German as Nachts, is a children's book written and illustrated by German author Wolf Erlbruch written for the Dutch Kinderboekenweek, an annual event promoting children's literature. It is a story about a boy, Fons, who, unable to sleep, drags his father on a walk through town and encounters the most fantastic animals and creatures. Some of the things Fons sees along the way were specifically geared toward the Dutch reader, Erlbruch explained.[1]
For his mixed-media illustrations in Nachts, Erlbruch used cut-outs from stacks of papers from 1940s German wallpaper and other eclectic sources. Each page features a moon, and some of those were cut from plans from a French company for a railroad in China; the mathematical formulas, explained Erlbruch, represent the adult, rational world—cutting up papers with such calculations on it he suspects is an act of rebellion.[1] The Dutch daily newspaper Trouw wrote that in Nachts, Erlbruch "cuts, pastes, draws, paints, and writes a beautiful little piece of art."[2]
References
edit- ^ a b Blankendaal, Stijntje (1999-10-07). "'Eindelijk werd ik zelf bijziend'". Trouw (in Dutch). Retrieved 2010-01-04.
- ^ Nauta, Hans (1999-10-06). "'De Indianen slapen, dus slapen de cowboys ook'". Trouw (in Dutch). Retrieved 2010-01-03.
