Willibrord Joseph Huygen (23 June 1922 – 14 January 2009) was a Dutch book author. He is best known for the picture books on

gnome A gnome () is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and widely adopted by authors, including those of modern fantasy literature. They are typically depict ...

s, illustrated by

Rien Poortvliet Rien Poortvliet (; 7 August 1932 – 15 September 1995) was a Dutch artist and illustrator. Life Born in Schiedam, Poortvliet was best known for his drawings of animals and for "Gnomes (book), Gnomes", a famous series of illustrated books with ...

. Huygen was born in

Amersfoort Amersfoort () is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht, Netherlands. As of 31 January 2023, the municipality had ...

, the Netherlands. The seventh of ten children, his primary occupation was that of a physician. He was married and had five children. The first book in his picture book series is ''

Gnomes A gnome () is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and widely adopted by authors, including those of modern fantasy literature. They are typically depict ...

'' (published in 1977, and originally known as ''Leven en werken van de Kabouter'' in Dutch). It was on top of the bestseller list of the ''New York Times'' for over a year (as a book on folklore, it was categorized as non-fiction). In the second book (''De oproep der Kabouters'') both Huygen and Poortvliet make appearances themselves in both the story and the illustrations as they get contacted by the gnomes because of the ''Gnomes'' book they have written together. The TV show,

The World of David the Gnome ''The World of David the Gnome'', originally titled ''David, el Gnomo'' and also known as ''David, the Gnome'', is a Spanish animated television series based on '' The Secret Book of Gnomes'', a series of children's books by Dutch author Wil H ...

, was based on their work. Huygen died on 14 January 2009 in Bilthoven. He was 86 years old.

Book List

* ''Gnomes'' (1977) * ''The Pop-Up Book of Gnomes'' (1979) * ''The Gnome Book of Christmas Crafts'' (1980) * ''Gnome Games'' (1980, Designed by Larry Evans) * ''Secrets of the Gnomes'' (1981) * ''Gnomes and Their Families'' (1983) * ''Gnomes with Animals'' (1983) * ''The Book of the Sandman and the Alphabet of Sleep'' (1989) * ''Gnome Life ''(1999)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huygen, Wil 1922 births 2009 deaths Dutch children's writers Dutch fantasy writers People from Amersfoort