Marit Törnqvist

The Swedish illustrator and author for children’s books Marit Törnqvist (1964) has the unique ability to translate universal emotions such as sorrow, longing, and joy to words and images that speak to the worlds of both children and adults. In Hidden Stories, Törnqvist presents more than 100 vivid and imaginative illustrations that explore complex themes such as love, loss, identity, and friendship.

As a child in school, Törnqvist often felt like an outsider, but drawing, writing stories, and crafting helped her to occasionally escape reality. Her work as an illustrator and writer still gives her the opportunity to bring her own experiences, and those of many children, into her books. In 2025, she launched the foundation Een boek voor jou. The foundation was established to welcome children who come to the Netherlands as refugees, providing them with an anthology of Dutch children’s literature, translated into the six most widely spoken languages in asylum seekers’ centers.

Cover image: Marit Törnqvist, illustration for the book Schildpad en ik | Querido 2022