literature

36 Refreshing Summer Reads from The Low Countries — for You and Your Kids (Summer 2025)

7 August 2025 5 min. reading time

Need a good read for lazy days at the beach or poolside? These books by Dutch and Flemish authors — now available in English — promise gripping stories, sharp insights, and unforgettable voices. Most were translated with the support of the Dutch Foundation for Literature or Flanders Literature. And if you’re still hungry for more? You’ll find a treasure trove of translated literature in this database.

FICTION

The Twilight of the Souls

Author: Louis Couperus
Translator: Alexander Teixeira de Mattos
Publisher: Anson Street Press
Original title: De boeken der kleine zielen (Veen, 1901)

Read about the work of Louis Couperus in English

Strange and Perfect Account From the Permafrost

Author: Donald Niedekker
Translator: Jonathan Reeder
Publisher: Sandorf Passage
Original title: Waarachtige beschrijvingen uit de permafrost (Koppernik, 2022)

Discover Jonathan Reeder’s must-reads

The Edges

Author: Angelo Tijssens
Translator: Michele Hutchison
Publisher: Daunt Books
Original title: De randen (Borgerhoff & Lamberigts, 2022)

Read our review

The Hedgehog’s Dilemma

Author: Toon Tellegen
Illustrator: Annemarie van Haeringen
Translator: David Colmer
Publisher: Pushkin Press
Original title: Het verlangen van de egel (Querido, 2014)

Discover David Colmer’s must-reads

The Remembered Soldier

Author: Anjet Daanje
Translator: David McKay
Publisher: New Vessel Press
Original title: De herinnerde soldaat (Passage, 2019)

Discover David McKay’s must-reads

NONFICTION

Pear Shaped. The Life Story of Your Uterus

Authors: Marlies Bongers & Corien van Zweden
Illustrator: Gijs Klunder
Translator: Alice Tetley-Paul
Publisher: Greystone Books
Original title: Biografie van de baarmoeder (De Arbeiderspers, 2022)

Moral Ambition

Author: Rutger Bregman
Translator: Erica Moore
Publisher: Bloomsbury/Little, Brown & Company
Original title: Morele ambitie (De Correspondent, 2024)

The Man Who Lost His Head

Author: Douwe Draaisma
Translator: Jane Hedley-Prole
Publisher: Reaktion Books
Original title: De man die zijn hoofd verloor (Historische Uitgeverij, 2022)

Becoming Escher

Author: Joris Escher
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Original title: Escher worden (Atas Contact, 2023)

The Sound of Utopia

Author: Michiel Krielaars
Translator: Jonathan Reeder
Publisher: Pushkin Press
Original title: De klank van de heilstaat (Pluim, 2021)

A Letter in the Night

Author: Chaja Polak
Translator: Astrid Alben
Publisher: The New Menard Press
Original title: Brief in de nacht (Cossee, 2024)

Discover Astrid Alben’s must-reads

Why Nobody Understands Quantum Physics

Authors: Frank Verstraete & Céline Broeckaert
Translator: Alice Tetley-Paul
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Original title: Waarom niemand kwantum begrijpt (Lanno, 2023)

Discover Alice Tetley-Paul’s must-reads

The Devil’s Drug

Author: Teun Voeten
Translator: Teun Voeten
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Original title: Drug van de duivel (Pelckmans, 2022)

What Art Does: An Unfinished Theory

Authors: Brian Eno & Bette Adriaanse
Publisher: Faber & Faber

POETRY

The Inside of a Stone

Author: Charlotte Van den Broeck
Translator: David Colmer
Publisher: Bloodaxe Books
Original title: Aarduitwrijvingen (De Arbeiderspers, 2021)

Read our review of Bold Ventures by Charlotte Van den Broeck

Night Boat & other poems

Author: Maria Barnas
Translator: Donald Gardner
Publisher: Shearsman Books
Original title: Nachtboot (Van Oorschot, 2019)

COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS

Dry Cleaned

Author & Illustrator: Joris Mertens
Translators: Sandra van Beek & Julia Blackbburn
Publisher: Fantagraphics
Original title: Bleekwater (Oogachtend, 2022)

The Pit

Author & Illustrator: Erik Kriek
Translator: Sean M. Robinson
Publisher: Living the Line
Original title: De kuil (Scratch!, 2023)

Skin

Authors & Illustrators: Mieke Versyp & Sabien Clement
Translator: Sammy Koot
Publisher: FantaGraphics
Original title: Vel (Oogachtend, 2021)

CHILDREN'S & YOUTH LITERATURE

The Monster in the Lake

Author & Illustrator: Leo Timmers
Translator: Bill Nagelkerke
Publisher: Gecko Press
Original title: Het monstermeer (Querido, 2022)

What About Scout?

Author & Illustrator: Guido Van Genechten
Publisher: Clavis
Original title: Waar is Scout? (Clavis, 2024)

Where’s Dax in the Train?

Author & Illustrator: Delano Van der Geest
Publisher: Clavis

Wild About Mom

Author & Illustrator: Jessie Jans
Publisher: Clavis
Original title: Wild van mama (Clavis, 2024)

Well done, Immy!

Author & Illustrator: Mack van Gageldonk
Publisher: Clavis
Original title: Wat knap van je, Immy! (Clavis, 2014)

You’ve Go So Many Friends, Immy!

Author & Illustrator: Mack van Gageldonk
Publisher: Clavis
Original title: Je hebt zoveel vrienden, Immy! (Clavis, 2024)

Wizard’s Two Lives

Author: Ellen DeLange
Illustrator: Janneke Kelderman
Publisher: Clavis
Original title: Klaar voor de show? (Clavis, 2024)

Miffy and the Artists

Author & Illustrator: Dick Bruna
Publisher: Thames and Hudson
Original title: Nijntje en de kunstenaars (Mercis, 2025)

Read our profile of Dick Bruna

The Runaway Pancake

Author: Tiny Fisscher
Illustrator: Sophie Pluim
Publisher: Floris Books
Original title: Wij willen een pannenkoek (Christofoor, 2021)

Popcorn Bob Can’t Stop Popping

Author: Maranke Rinck
Illustrator: Martijn van der Linden
Translator: Nancy Forest-Flier
Publisher: Levine Querido
Original title: Bob Popcorn kan niet stoppen met ontploffen (Querido, 2024)

Daughter of Doom

Author: Jean-Claude Van Rijckeghem
Translator: Kristen Gehrman
Publisher: Levine Querido
Original title: Onheilsdochter (Querido, 2022)

Discover Kristen Gehrman’s must-reads

The Gnome Book

Author & Illustrator: Loes Riphagen
Translator: Michele Hutchison
Publisher: Pushkin Press
Original title: Het kabouterboek (Gottmer, 2023)

Discover Michele Hutchison’s must-read

Captain Danger and the Stupid Shadow

Author & Illustrator: Victor Engbers
Translator: David Colmer
Publisher: Pushkin Press
Original title: Kapitein Knut en de stomme schaduw (Boycott, 2021)

This Will Last Forever

Author & Illustrator: Octavie Wolters
Translator: Michele Hutchison
Publisher: Pushkin Press
Original title: Dit gaat nooit voorbij (Ploegsma, 2024)

My Presentation Today Is About the Anaconda

Author: Bibi Dumon Tak
Translator: Nancy Forest-Flier
Publisher: Levine Querido
Original title: Vandaag houd ik mijn spreekbeurt over de anaconda (Querido, 2022)

Wesley and Wolf

Author & Illustrator: Sassafras De Bruyn
Translator: David Colmer
Publisher: Book Island
Original title: Wolf en Rolf (De Eenhoorn, 2024)

Wizard Sofia

Author & Illustrator: An Leysen
Publisher: Clavis
Original title: Tovenaar Sofia (Clavis, 2021)