Non-Dutch authors have been commissioned to write the bonus book for next year’s Children’s Book Week for the first time in the event’s 68-year history, sector organisation CPNB has announced.

The book, which is given free to people who spend at least €12.50 on children’s books during the week, will be the work of Australian author Andy Griffith and illustrator Terry Denton who together produced the bestselling Treehouse series.

Like Harry Potter and the Diary of a Wimpy Kid, the Treehouse books have been credited with convincing even the most reluctant children to pick up a book, the CPNB said. ‘Their humour has made children discover the joy of reading and we are very honoured they have agreed to write the bonus book,’ CPNB director Eveline Aendekerk said.

The theme for 2022’s children’s book week, which takes place from October 6 to 16, is outdoors adventures which ties in neatly with Griffith’s wacky Treehouse series. Some 1.3 million copies of his books have been sold so far in the Netherlands.

The 2022 picture bonus book will be produced by Marije Tolman whose Vosje (little fox) earned the Zilveren Penseel award in 2019.