Harmsen van der Beek facts for kids
Eelco Martinus ten Harmsen van der Beek (often called Harmsen van der Beek or just Beek) was a Dutch artist. He was born in Amsterdam on October 8, 1897, and passed away in Blaricum on July 24, 1953. He was famous for drawing pictures for books and advertisements. Around the world, many people remember him best for drawing the original pictures for Enid Blyton's popular Noddy books.
Beek also created a famous character called Flipje in 1935. Flipje was a small character made of berries! A jam factory in Tiel asked him to create this comic strip. Beek was already well-known in the Netherlands when he met publishers in London in the late 1940s. This meeting led to the creation of the Noddy series for young children. Enid Blyton wrote the stories, and Beek drew the pictures. Noddy is still a very popular character for cartoons today. Beek simply signed his drawings as "Beek." He wanted to create a friendly character, much like Mickey Mouse. After Beek passed away in 1953, other artists, including his assistant Peter Wienk, continued to illustrate the Noddy books.
About Beek's Life
Beek's father was a pharmacist in Amsterdam. When Eelco was a child, he and his brother Hein sold postcards that Eelco had drawn on the streets of Amsterdam. Eelco studied art at two schools in Amsterdam from 1916 to 1918. After his studies, he started working as an artist for companies and drew pictures for newspapers and magazines. One of the first books he illustrated was De Driewenschen (1920), a children's book.
Creating Flipje
In 1935, Beek began drawing the comic strip Flipje for a jam factory called "De Betuwe." The comic strip was very long, about a meter! It was displayed on shelves in stores, right in front of the jam jars. Beek's wife, Freddie Langeler, was also an artist. She wrote the rhyming words for the comic strip and colored in his drawings.
In 1936, a company made a special cardboard theater called the "Flipposcoop." You could put the comic strip inside it and shine a flashlight from behind to make it look like a slide show. Flipje even appeared in a special comic strip showing how to put the theater together.
In 1953, Beek asked the jam factory if he could release the Flipje character in the United Kingdom. When they said no, Beek decided to stop working with the company. He passed away just six days later.
Beek and his wife had a son and a daughter. Their daughter, Fritzi Harmsen van Beek, also became a writer, poet, and illustrator.
