Children's books and comics

The KB has a large collection of catchpenny prints. Catchpenny prints were cheap prints used as newspapers, illustrations or cartoons between 1730 and 1930.

The Central Database of Children's Books (CBK) contains children's books from the collections of libraries in the Netherlands and Flanders.

Hieronymus van Alphen wrote Kleine gedigten voor kinderen (Little Poems for Children). Van Alphen's poems suited the zeitgeist of the mid-18th century.

Sprookjes uit de nalatenschap van Moeder de Gans (Fairy tales from the legacy of Mother Goose) from 1870 is one of the oldest and finest collections of Brothers Grimm fairy tales in the KB collection.

The moveable picture book De Boerderij (The Farm) dates from the 19th century and shows all the different facets of farm life.

Dating from 1856, De nieuwe rijschool (The New Riding School) is the oldest known moveable picture book published in the Netherlands.

Mijnheer Prikkebeen (Mr Prikkebeen) is considered the first Dutch comic strip.

The weekly Donald Duck magazine first appeared in the Netherlands in 1952.

Sint Nikolaas en zijn knecht (Saint Nicholas and His Servant) is Jan Schenkman's most influential children's book.

There are a lot of books about Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas) in the KB collection. The collection clearly shows how Sinterklaas has evolved over time.

With Tip en Top op de maan (Tip and Top on the Moon), the KB’s collection now includes all the Tip and Top pop-up books by Czech artist Vojtĕch Kubašta.

The KB collection contains hundreds of stories about the mythical land of plenty called Cockaigne, also known as Luilekkerland (lazy, delicious land) in Dutch. A brief overview.

The KB has a collection of American children's and young adult books about the Netherlands dating from 1874 to 2006. The 248 books paint a picture of the Netherlands as Americans wanted to see ”Holland” portrayed.

The KB collects all comic books and comic magazines published in the Netherlands and Flanders.

The KB's Oosterbaan collection includes 648 Dutch-language Karl May books dating from 1886-2006. It is the most complete collection of Dutch-language editions of Karl May ever assembled.

The KB also collects special heritage items in addition to books and magazines. In this blog, collection specialist Karin Vingerhoets discusses a collection of Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas) wrapping paper from our collection.

The KB's collection of pop-ups and other special books is a large collection of special children's books. Read more.

Publishing company Kluitman has donated all the children's books they ever published to the KB. Read more about this collection.