Guus Kuijer is a Dutch author. He wrote books for children and adults, and is best known for the “Madelief” series of children's books. For his career contribution to "children's and young adult literature in the broadest sense" he won the “Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award “from the Swedish Arts Council in 2012, the biggest prize in children's literature. As a children's writer he was one of five finalists for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2008. Other notable awards he received were the “Gouden Griffel” in 1976, 1979, 2000 and 2005 as well as the “Golden Owl” in 2005. From 1967 to 1973 he was a primary school teacher.[ In 1968 he started writing short stories for the magazine Hollands Maandblad and in 1971 he published a collection of his short stories. In 1973 he stopped teaching in order to become a full-time write. Years later, a television series Madelief (1994) and movie Scratches in the Table (1998) were made of his book series about Madelief (1975–1979). Of his book series Polleke (1999–2001) a movie Polleke (2003) and a television series Polleke (2005) were made. In 2011 Australian Richard Tulloch translated The Book of Everything into English and adapted it into a very successful play produced in 2013 by the Melbourne Theatre Company. Recently he wrote four bestselling books that recount in his own style important bible stories from the ancient testament.