About Jet Boeke

Jet Boeke is an illustrator of children's books and was born on October 28, 1948 in Wagening, The Netherlands.

Jet was born as the youngest of 6 children. I could not find any other family background, but we can safely assume, she had a father and a mother. :-) In case I stumble upon more family history, I will edit this post and share it with you.

After she graduated from the MMS, she attended the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, where she studied graphic design. She had actually wanted to become a silversmith, or an industrial developer. But she chose a different direction.

After her education, she and her friend Arthur van Norden, traveled the States, Mexico and Central America, for about 2 years. While spending some time in New York, she met an illustrator, who made short animation movies for Sesame Street. This children's program was not aired on the Dutch TV at that time and Jet saw it for the first time on the American television and was very excited about it.

Upon her return, she found out there was a Dutch version of Sesame Street in the makings. She contacted the producers, who told her to come up with an idea for toddlers. She started making sketches about her cat, who was her inspiration and. Arthur van Norden wrote the text for the illustrations and... Dikkie Dik (or Tummy Tom in English) was born.

Jet is still very active as an illustrator and many adventures of Tummy Tom have and still are speaking to toddlers' imagination all over the world.

Jet lives in Amsterdam, in the company of two cats.

See also:
Jet Boeke's Work
Jet Boeke's Economical Impact