In three and a half years, Dutch voice actor Kevin Hassing has emerged as one of the most popular children’s book authors. He published four adventure books about the tough girl Sparrow and her companion Captain Evilbeard and won the Children’s Jury Prize with two of them.
The last part will come in September, but in the meantime the writer is already starting a new series: The Krieps. That name is of course a funny Dutchization of the English creeps (ghouls) and that fits with the vividly described characters: microscopic creatures that live in hair follicles on human heads.
This is not a suitable book for those who are already getting chills. Krieps eat skin flakes as if they were prawn crackers and sometimes also infiltrate the body.
Climbing with spiderweb
Headache Peer, despite his sticky feet, just fell off the head of his human Jet and landed on her toenail. Even though he doesn’t have an adventurous nature, he has no choice but to try to travel back to Jet’s head. That is a hellish journey over plains of skin, swirling bloodstreams and through forests of bone hair. Fortunately, he is soon joined by his wisecracking sister Kip, who has gone looking for him.
Although Hassing’s idea is original and he executes it smoothly in short sentences, I get the feeling that he could have thought it out better. Why, for example, do Peer and Kip know nothing about the existence of other types of Krieps elsewhere on the body, but are they recognized as main Krieps by the others? What happens when Jet takes a shower or sweats? Why does climbing creep Tarrel use something that does not exist on a human body – spider silk – to move?
And why are the Krieps no longer safe on Jet’s head once she has cut her hair, but are no longer safe under her arm hair, which is at least as short?
Even dirtier
Hassing will get away with it with many children and will undoubtedly score with this book. After all, Goor is also funny and he tells his story with flair. For example, he interrupts a scene in which Peer is with the slimy nose creeps with a witty letter, in which he offers readers the opportunity to stop reading, because ‘I can’t make it more fun, but unfortunately I can make it dirtier’.
Hassing can come up with appealing adventures with humor, and his main character also has a little more relief than in his debut. Now it’s a matter of developing the stories even more precisely and using all the meat on the bone.
Kevin Hassing, The Krieps. From the bottom to the top, Luitingh-Sijthoff, 128 p., 13.99 euros. Illustrations Emanuel Wiemans. From 7 years.
