The Girl Who Planted Hope
A moving story inspired by the history of enslaved peoples.
Het meisje met de zaadjes in het haar is a picture book for young readers about a fraught chapter of world history: the transatlantic slave trade. A book that exposes historical horrors while offering a message of hope through its use of language and illustration.
Yaa, a Ghanaian girl, is very young when slave traders raid her village and kidnap her family. After being shipped off and sold, she and her mother are forced to work on a coffee plantation far away from everything she knows and loves.
When Yaa’s mother braids her hair, she hides the seeds of vegetables and fruits from their homeland in each tress. One night, Yaa slips out of her bed to plant the seeds. The roots that sprout from them give Yaa new ground on which to stand.
Nancy Bosmans and Lisa van Winsen, the creators of the first Dutch picture book about the slave trade, have turned this fraught chapter of history into a story suitable for a young audience. The book’s text and illustrations work in harmony: the grey and blue hues evoke the sense of sorrow and loss of homeland and freedom, while warm, cheerful colours fill the pictures of Yaa’s fond memories of her village in Ghana.
Yaa’s story isn’t just about enslavement; it’s about a sense of home and the importance of passing down stories. The resilience of young Yaa infuses the story with hope.
Poetic and moving picture book about a fraught chapter of history
A harmony of text and image
Based on true stories
De Boebalas, the previous picture book by the creators, was listed in the Prentenboek Top 10 2025 (top ten picture books in the Netherlands)
As the daughter of a Dutch father and a Ghanaian mother, writer Nancy Bosmans is committed to creating stories that reflect her Ghanaian heritage and are as inclusive as possible. Her first book, De Boebalas (2023), is based on the multicultural stories from Ghanaian culture that she grew up with. Het meisje met de zaadjes in het haar is her first picture book about the history of the slave trade.
Lisa van Winsen had always dreamt of illustrating and writing books. Shortly after graduating as an illustrator, she released her first picture book with writer Michael Middelkoop: Idje wil niet naar de kapper! Mila’s Vonk, the first book she both illustrated and wrote in its entirety, came out in 2021. She has also worked with Nancy Bosmans to create the picture books De Boebalas (2023) and Het meisje met de zaadjes in het haar (2025).