Janna de Lathouder Author

Janna de Lathouder attended the Directing program at Toneelacademie Maastricht (the Drama Academy in Maastricht, the Netherlands). Ever since then she is having fun working as a theatre director, or sometimes as an advisor or a teacher. Apart from that, she writes. Janna is married to Martijn and they have a cat together. Janna and her husband live in a house near a ditch in a nice village in North-Holland. When it freezes they can step from their garden onto the ice and make a trip. And when it’s very hot they can cool their feet in the water of the ditch. Sometimes Janna names the things around her. When she is talking about ‘Anton’, she means the apple tree in her garden. And with ‘Cordelia’ she refers to the sculpture of the chicken on the shelf. Maybe that’s why she loves to make up stories: if something has a name, it has a life, so why not a whole story? Why does Anne Schneider love making picture books? 'Drawing and reading have always been my main hobbies. But as a child, I had no intention of making my living with them. I wanted to be an actress! I used to write, direct and act all the time, and I was determined to go to the academy of dramatic art. But I was too young for that when I finished my secondary education, so I got the idea to attend a secondary teacher training in drawing for one year and then switch to a school of acting. But I enjoyed my studies so much that I forgot all about my original plan, finished my education, got a job as an art teacher, and started a small business in illustrations and wall paintings. In 2012, I won the Key Colours International Illustrators Award and I felt like a real picture book maker. In picture books I combine all my passions: I draw and paint, I make up stories and characters, and I direct how they get to appear. That’s why I love making picture books.'