Enfantina – Le festin des Lutins – Mini-livres Hachette n°68 – 1965 – Nans Van Leeuwen

Nans van Leeuwen was born in Amsterdam into an artistic family. She got her first drawing lessons from her father, painter Klaas van Leeuwen. She attended the Rijksacademie voor Beeldende Kunsten in 1922, before settling in the Rotterdam Vreewijk area in 1926. Between 1922 and 1962 she worked as a teacher at the Industrial School for Girls in Rotterdam. She made her first illustrations for the storybooks by Jan Boer in 1928 and 1930 (‘Sint Nicolaasvertellingen’, ‘Groningse Sprookjes en Vertellingen’). She is best known for illustrating the ‘Piggelmee’ booklets for coffee factory Van Nelle in the 1930s and 1940s. Other comics by Van Leeuwen are ‘De Kabouterapotheek’, ‘De Reis van Bobbie-Beer en Peter-Konijn’, ‘Het Huisje van Tom-Tim’ and ‘Peter en Poelek’ (1934).