Wil Huygen

Who was Wil Huygen?

Wil Huygen, was a Dutch book author. He is best known for the picture books on Gnomes, illustrated by Rien Poortvliet.

Huygen, a painter in his own right, was born in Amersfoort, the Netherlands. The seventh of ten children, his primary occupation was that of a physician. This helps to explain the method he used to give realism and a sense of authenticity to his children's books about gnomes. He was married and had five children.

The first and most well known in this series is Gnomes. It was on top of the bestseller list of the New York Times for over a year. In the second book both Huygen and Poortvliet make appearances themselves in both the story and the illustrations as they get contacted by the gnomes because of Gnomes book they have written together. Huygens died January 14, 2009. He was 86 years old.