The Nightingale in Dutch

Just to show that fairy tale books still win awards in other countries, too, here's an article: Flemish writer wins children's book award

Flemish writer Peter Verhelst has won this year's Gouden Griffel (golden slate pencil) award for the best Dutch language children's book for Het geheim van de keel van de nachtegaal (the secret of the nightingale's throat).

The book, a reworking of the Hans Christian Anderson fairytale, is Verhelst's first children's book. He has already published eight volumes of poetry and five novels.

Of course, I tried to find more and discovered this description in English since my Dutch, well, I don't have any Dutch....

Bozar Book Shop description:

In fairy tales, the dreams and wishes of emperors can be become reality with a snap of a finger. In 'The secret of the nightingale's throat' a Chinese emperor dreams of a new Imperial Garden of Gardens. A simple gardener does his very best to make this dream come true. Whenever the emperor hears a nightingale, he knows that its music must also be a part of his garden. The nightingale is willing, but has a will of its own. His music is unique, but cannot be caught. Can the almighty emperor live with the idea that that there is something that excapes his will?

Peter Verhelst has adapted H.C.Andersen's well-known fairy tale into a musical and poetic text. Carll Cneut lets the reader meander through a magical beautiful world.

You can also read more about Peter Verhelst on Wikipedia. (It doesn't mention this book or his award, but someone will probably fix that someday.)

And I believe this is another illustration from the book: