Audrey Fry is a Spy! launches in Dutch

On September 20th, the Dutch launch of Aukje van Zon is een spion! took place during the Alopecia Vereniging’s national family day in Apenheul. Originally published in English as Audrey Fry is a Spy! by Jen Campbell, the book tells the story of a resourceful young girl with alopecia who embarks on adventurous missions. I had the privilege of translating the Dutch edition on behalf of HarperCollins.

The Dutch cover of the book

The day itself was inspiring: the morning program featured contributions from two great women sharing their experiences growing up with alopecia, as well as a lecture by dermatologist Elodie Mendels, who explained the medical background in clear and accessible terms. Meanwhile, the children were busy drawing, playing and perhaps spotting a few monkeys already.

With chair Robin Groeneveld, presenting the book

The official launch of Aukje van Zon is een Spion was announced at the start of the day, and each child received a copy of the book before heading into the park. Seeing the translation distributed in this way was a special experience. What struck me most was the scale: hundreds of copies were handed out on the spot, and it was fun to see people ask for extra copies to hand out at school or in libraries. Quite exciting to know that I can contribute in a small way to raising awareness for this issue.

In the afternoon, both the kids and I headed into the park to spot some monkeys, which was a fun ending to a meaningful day, even with a bit of rain.

I am grateful to the Alopecia Vereniging for hosting such an impactful day, to HarperCollins for entrusting me with the translation, and, of course, to Jen Campbell for creating a story that resonates so strongly with this community. It was an honor to contribute in a small way to making this book available to Dutch children and families.

These sleeping lemurs were my favourites.