What colour is Amsterdam?
A few months ago, while enjoying a nice summer walk on the streets of Amsterdam, where I have lived for several years, I bought a book for my niece entitled: What colour is Amsterdam?
I was looking for a gift to explain to her where Aunt Patri lives, and I went into a nice little toy store near my house. There I found several very original books, but really the one that caught my attention was this wonderful book, what cool drawings and texts! -I thought-.
It explains, in English and in an educational and simple way, the most typical and curious aspects of the peculiar Amsterdam; how the city was built, what the people eat there, or how its inhabitants move around in it.
In their illustrations, you will meet Ola the Seagull. A brave and curious seagull who is travelling through the pages of the book. Ola has visited all the most interesting places in Amsterdam and she always knows where to find the best fish. She loves to glide on the air currents high above the city along with the other seagulls.
And of course, she is a very quick-witted gull. She recently learned to beg food from the sellers at the patat stalls. Ola likes patat very much and often uses this trick when she needs food to regain her strength.
On each page, there is a drawing, with a total of thirty-two fantastic illustrations by Katya Belova to drool over, made in black and white so that the little ones can give it colour as they feel it. It also contains interesting information about museums and other activities that can be done as a family in the Dutch capital.
When I saw my niece’s reaction I fell in love with the book even more and I was able to explain to her in a fun and creative way how Amsterdam looks and what is done in the city where I live.
For these reasons, I decided to incorporate it in my daily life as a work tool and since then, in Amsterdam Tales we use it a lot, during the babysitting service, as well as in our family tours and workshops.
Well, the funny and beautiful thing I want to share with you today is that, after a while, we received in Amsterdam Tales a message from Alina Ozerova, one of its creators! She had discovered our company and contacted us, since we do activities in different languages for locals and visitors.
What she didn’t know was that she was contacting one of her clients!
That was a sign, so we didn’t hesitate to share it with all the families that follow us, because we think that whether you live in Amsterdam, are a visitor or are planning to come with your family to stay, it is a super good option for your little ones to understand and color the city.
If you want to have one or send it to your nieces or cousins, they will love it! Oh, they also have a Russian version of the book and a Dutch and Russian version of What colour is Barcelona!
