Kinderboekenmuseum

The Kinderboekenmuseum (Children's Book Museum) is a museum in The Hague, Netherlands, dedicated to Dutch-language children's books. It opened in 1994 and operates as part of the Literatuurmuseum (Museum of Literature), with which it shares a building complex that also houses the National Library of the Netherlands. The museum holds particular significance as one of the first museums in the Netherlands created specifically for young audiences, offering an interactive environment where visitors can encounter story characters, play literary games, and engage their imagination. In 2023, it was decided that both the Literatuurmuseum and the Kinderboekenmuseum would relocate to Utrecht, though the date of this move remains unestablished.

The Kinderboekenmuseum first opened its doors in 1994, making it one of the earliest museums in the Netherlands designed specifically for children. Its original presentation featured fifteen thematically arranged cabinets that surveyed children's and youth literature through books, photographs, manuscripts, illustrations, and personal objects by Dutch authors and illustrators. The museum also organized temporary exhibitions on youth literature, with particularly successful shows devoted to widely popular children's authors such as Carry Slee, Jacques Vriens, and Rindert Kromhout. In 2007, the museum closed temporarily for an extensive renovation, reopening in its renewed form in December 2010. On 1 September 2024, Valérie Drost became the new director of the combined Literatuurmuseum and Kinderboekenmuseum, succeeding Aad Meinderts upon his retirement. The 2023 decision to move both institutions to Utrecht represents a significant chapter in their ongoing evolution, though no date for this relocation has been set.

The Kinderboekenmuseum's archive encompasses a wide range of materials related to Dutch children's literature, though only a small portion is on public display at any given time, with the remainder available for research purposes. The collection includes manuscripts, illustrations, and personal objects that document the history of Dutch youth literature. The museum's holdings are complemented by the substantial children's book collection maintained by the National Library of the Netherlands in the same building complex, which comprises approximately 255,000 children's books and magazines plus 12,000 reference works, spanning from the 16th century to the present. This larger collection focuses mainly on Dutch-language children's books published in the Netherlands and foreign translations of them, as well as foreign children's books about the Netherlands. The National Library's collection grew through major acquisitions in the first half of the 20th century, deliberate expansion from the 1960s onward, and the 1997 transfer of the Boek en Jeugd collection from the NBLC to the Letterkundig Museum (now Literatuurmuseum), which subsequently placed about 75,000 volumes with the National Library on long-term loan, becoming its property in 2021.

Among the notable items preserved in the Kinderboekenmuseum's archive are the manuscript of Dik Trom, manuscripts by Annie M.G. Schmidt, the Kikker (Frog) illustrations by Max Velthuijs, and the typewriter on which Thea Beckman wrote her bestselling novel Kruistocht in Spijkerbroek. The National Library's children's book collection in the same complex contains classics such as Jantje zag eens pruimen hangen by Hieronymus van Alphen and Sint Nikolaas en zijn knecht by Jan Schenkman, alongside numerous editions of Dik Trom, forgotten advertising booklets, fairy tale publications, children's magazines, children's bibles, picture books, boys' books, and 'bakvisromans' (novels for teenage girls). The collection also features nijntje (Miffy) in dozens of translations and American children's books from the 'Holland mania' period full of tulips and windmills.

The Kinderboekenmuseum is housed within the same building complex as the National Library of the Netherlands in The Hague. This shared location with the Literatuurmuseum creates a concentrated center for Dutch literary heritage, allowing for operational integration between the children's book museum and the broader literature museum. The museum's physical space was substantially renovated between 2007 and 201 renovations that enabled a renewed presentation when it reopened in December 2010. The planned move to Utrecht, announced in 2023, will eventually relocate both the Kinderboekenmuseum and the Literatuurmuseum to a new site, though the specific building and timing for this transfer have not yet been determined.

The Kinderboekenmuseum is located at Prins Willem-Alexanderhof 5 in The Hague. It is open Tuesday through Friday from 10:30 to 17:00, and Saturday and Sunday from 09:00 to 17:00; the museum is closed on Mondays. Advance reservation is required for all visits. Standard admission is €13 for adults and for youth aged 2 through 18. The Netherlands Museum Pass (Museumkaart) is accepted for free entry, and the museum also sells the Museumkaart on-site. The pass costs €75 for adults and €39 for young people and children. Visitors can explore interactive exhibitions, encounter story characters, play literary games, and use their imagination in what is described as a family museum experience. The museum also maintains an online presence through LiteratuurLab, an online museum accessible at any time, and makes its archive available for research through an online catalogue. As of the available information, over 2,000 visitors have rated the museum with an average of 5 out of 5 on Google Maps.