Alive with charm

The Queen of Cuddles

Kristien Aertssen

A little princess loves cuddling, but her mother, Queen Mummy, never has any time for her. She is too busy receiving important visitors. And so the princess goes in search of the Queen of Cuddles. Along the way, she meets various queens who do have time for her and with each of them she has some lovely moments. The Queen of Cookies teaches her how to bake cookies, and she plays games with the Queen of Games for hours on end. The Queen of Flowers shows her a beautiful garden, the Queen of Cats gives her a cute kitten and the Queen of Night tells her a story about a lonesome queen. Meanwhile, in her palace, Queen Mummy is also feeling terribly lonely. She misses her little princess and would love to give her a big cuddle... And the princess is ready to go home too, even though she didn’t find the Queen of Cuddles. The best Queen of Cuddles turns out to live at home: it is her mum.

Beautifully composed, almost surreal looking pictures

De Standaard

‘The Queen of Cuddles’ is a heart-warming fairy tale about a mother and daughter looking for affection. Kristien Aertssen uses soft, exotic colours and her illustrations are full of details you can look at all day long.