Gitte Spee
Gitte Spee was born on the island of Java in Indonesia and moved to the Netherlands when she was eleven. At first she found it strange and cold but now she would not want to live anywhere else.
She studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam and at St Martin's School of Art in London. At first Gitte illustrated books for lots of other writers but after a while she started to write herself. She found that she enjoyed this the most as when she writes and draws she can create a unique world.
Her most well known books include Mr. Big, Monkey and Mole and the Inspector Gordon series written by Ulf Nilsson.
She works in her studio in Laren. She is a nature and animal lover and from her studio window she likes to watch the squirrels and hedgehogs.
You can see Gitte's wonderful contribution to our What Makes You Smile? project here.
Praise for the Inspector Gordon series
Beautifully written with gentle humour and compassion. The colour illustrations by Gitte Spee capture the mood of the tale perfectly; her squirrels are full of exuberance, Gordon is world-weary and Buffy is refreshingly enthusiastic. The result is an ideal introduction for young readers to the world of novels.
Did you know…
Gitte Spee’s books have been translated into Swedish, French, German, English, Japanese and Korean.
Gitte hand paints ceramics with characters from her stories and beautiful flowers and patterns.
The Inspector Gordon series will soon be a cartoon based on Gitte’s drawings.
Find out more on Gitte Spee's website
