Soortenschat

Gottmer · 2022 · text Geert-Jan Roebers

House sparrows at a nest box under the roof tiles

Soortenschat. Kindercanon van de natuur in de Lage Landen is a richly illustrated nonfiction book that introduces children to the plants and animals of the Netherlands and Belgium. With infectious clarity, writer Geert-Jan Roebers shows how to recognise the most common species you’ll encounter in the wild. I’ve illustrated each species with care and accuracy, each with their own personality, and often with a nod and a wink.

A squirrel in a chef’s hat stirring a pot on the stove
Photo: a child reading Soortenschat in the garden
A child with a bucket at the edge of a pond, a pike and a frog below
A pair of common toads
A grey heron wading in shallow water
A red fox on a fallen trunk in the undergrowth
Two barn swallows in flight
Fly agarics and other mushrooms among pine cones
A magpie in a witch’s hat flying on a broom
Photo of Soortenschat open at the house sparrow and the blackbird
Broadleaf plantain growing between paving stones
A carrion crow on a wooden beam