Rien Poortvliet (1932–1995)

It has become apparent that I have well and truly lost my sense of magic. When I was a teenager I was entranced by Gnomes. My school library stocked it as a reference item, and many a lunchtime was spent poring over it. Eventually I left school and Gnomes behind, but for many years wished I could find another copy and revisit the world of Gnomes. Imagine my excitement then when I discovered a second hand copy at a local bookstore. I eagerly handed over my $3, rushed it home, and show more discovered… the magic had vanished.
No longer was I enchanted by the cute escapades and illustrations of these tiny people. Instead I found myself questioning the sexism of the male gnomes being fully responsible for all the labour, and the confinement of females almost exclusively to the home. I was horrified that daddy gnomes left nearly all of the parenting of daughters to the mother, and wondered if gnomes really were as sickeningly perfect as the book portrayed.
I suppose growing up is one of the sad inevitabilities of life. But for those who are still young, and those successfully fighting the habit of growing up, enjoy Gnomes while you still can. Reading it truly is a delightful experience. show less

Wow, what an artist. This is the same artist/author who does the Gnome books. He does an amazing job capturing the likeness of a lot of dog breeds. He has a great way of capturing the eyes of the dog and hinting of the soul of a dog within. All his artwork is great, but the big paintings of hunting dogs in the wild are my favorites. Also lots of fun are his little pictures of him and the dogs as he tells his stories. I wouldn't mind buying some of his art to hang on a wall. You can look up show more 'Rien Poortvliet dog artwork' for images you will see what I mean.

The text that goes with the artwork is a little all over the place. He talks about his current old dogs, which is nice. (Some Kleenex needed at one point but it is brief). Then he talks about new puppies which is very enjoyable. In those stories are a fair amount of notes and pictures of some of the less than pleasant things you have to deal with dogs and especially puppies but it just makes you laugh.

There is some other stuff he writes that seems a bit odd or different. He has a page with bits on people buying dogs for the wrong reasons, including a lady who wanted a dog. "what kind of dog madam?" Well, she thought she wanted one to match her coat. He sent her away without a dog.
There is a part on a man who is a timid underdog at work, so bullies his dog when he gets home. A bit makes a reference to another favorite pursuit: the possession of as many ribbons and trophies as possible. The most startling picture was after talking about how he and his wife dress to handle the dogs, but we're fearful of what may happen to well-dressed visitors. Then when you turn the page you see a detailed picture of two young ladies in the underwear with dresses hanging up to dry and four dogs watching them. The text says "As a matter of fact, a few days ago we had visitors who had to wait quite a while until their dresses were finally clean and dry again - what a mess.......... truthfully, this is just a bad joke." The picture wasn't obscene, just out of the blue and so the shock was funny.

Another fun part was with pictures starting with him looking down at a tiny dachshund puppy with this text:
"It's a wonder that at this distance we're able to communicate with each other!
I held a yardstick next to him, the little guy is 5 1/2 inches tall and I am 6'2 1/2". So my height is 13 times bigger
Imagine it the other way around - 6' 2 1/2" x 13 = 80' 7".
It would take a lot of courage to stand there and wave to a creature about 80 feet tall."

I have a couple of dozen dog books I would consider coffee table books of which I will add this one to that group. I think out of all of them, if I had a guest come over and was willing to look at one, this would be the one I would pull out to show them. And one I would want to crack open and look at again. show less

Huygen and Poortvliet's book about the habits of gnomes is one of hte classics in the modern "non-fiction" fairytale canon, but I had no idea that they had expanded the book into a more narrative story. The tale of a gnome who gets captured by some evil trolls and is rescued by his wife in disguise is not a particularly unique or well-written story, but I absolutely adored the accompanying illustrations. From the luscious depiction of the furry fox that we start out with to the nighttime show more forest landscapes we are drawn into the intriguingly magical world of the gnomes. I kind of wish that we had just been given a book of imagery with captions, but I;ll take it regardless! show less

When I was little, I used to pore over this book, wishing that, if gnomes were not real and if I couldn't see them for myself, I could at least live for a time like the little people depicted in the book, with elaborate teaparties made of natural foods, and mad handcrafting skills. Perhaps it's because my family was in the SCA. Now that I am grown, I still wish that, from time to time. Such a fun book. I think that, if this is not too much of a stretch - when children read books like this, show more and say, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, they start to think, what WOULD it be like to be a small and out-of-the-way creature? How much is going on outside right now, that I am missing? This perhaps is the seed from which a lot of environmentalism sprouts - the ability to realize that other creatures might have other worlds of their own, about which you know far less than you think. show less