How I Hid My Sister and Lost Her
‘I’m Kos and I’ve lost my baby sister. I really will explain what that’s all about soon, but first I’m going to tell you how much fun it was to start with.’ Yes, these opening sentences from Mohana van den Kroonenberg’s second children’s book, about a day in the life of a child who goes out on his own, pack quite a punch. Building up so much tension in so few words is no easy feat.
Van den Kroonenberg is a master at writing sentences that contain more than meets the eye. For example, the Saturday afternoon full of everyday happiness that Kos shares with the reader, cheerfully babbling away, turns out not to be as simple as it appears. Van den Kroonenberg subtly suggests that, since Soof, Kos’s baby sister, was born, something’s been wrong with his mum. ‘She’s put all her happiness into the baby,’ the little boy remarks, ‘and she’s started crying herself.’
So, it makes sense that now she’s ‘having a super happy day’, Kos can’t believe his luck. It also makes sense that, when his mum’s attention shifts to his dad and they only have eyes for each other, Kos gets angry. ‘They don’t need us,’ he grumbles to Soof, and he decides to go and hide in the local park with her. The game gets out of hand when, bouncing between his imagination and reality, he forgets Soof’s hiding place and is so ashamed that he doesn’t dare to go back home.
Assisted by Nadia Meezen’s cartoonish and atmospheric illustrations, Van den Kroonenberg effortlessly leads the reader on a journey into Kos’s young mind and around his irrational thoughts. His open-minded attitude to the world leads to all kinds of hilarious and touching encounters, which Van den Kroonenberg uses to poke fun at our society with subtle irony. For example, when Kos tells a homeless man that he’s lost his sister and doesn’t want anyone to find him, she has the man say: ‘If you come and sit next to me, no one will see you. People who sit by me don’t exist.’
With such apt observations from her endearing protagonist, Van den Kroonenberg lends an extra layer to her warm adventure story, showing just what an excellent writer she is.
Mohana van den Kroonenberg (1967) made her debut as a children’s writer in 2022. Dodo was an instant hit with readers and the media, with Het Parool writing: “Van den Kroonenberg has made an almighty debut in children’s literature.” Dodo was followed by more children’s books and story collections. Her book Peer, aimed at young readers, is about a boy who meets a gnome. (With illustrations by Karst-Janneke Rogaar). De prins op het zwarte paard is the second book featuring the gnome Peer and the boy Kai. Van den Kroonenberg is also a sculptor and translator, and works at a children’s bookshop.