Benny Lindelauf

Last week, a package arrived. I knew that a Young Lijster edition of ‘Hele Verhalen voor een Halve Soldaat’ was scheduled. ‘Lijsters’ are offered to schools by publisher Noordhoff as a subscription. They are a cheaper edition so that the barrier to reading remains low. The edition is special, because the original story is beautifully illustrated by Ludwig Volbeda. I believe Noordhoff does not have any other illustrated editions. Additionally, the original book had a square shape. The Lijsters books have a traditional rectangular shape, like most books, so Ludwig had his work cut out for him to adapt the illustrations.

Anyway, I thought I was going to unpack the Lijsters, but to my surprise, I found three new copies of ‘Hele Verhalen voor een Halve Soldaat’. Square and with illustrations. The seventh edition!

So now I am going to wait until the Lijsters arrive.