The Kinderboekenweek gift book lets one child into Hellendoorn or Drievliet free, and the threshold is 13.50 euro of children's books

On 30 September Dutch bookshops start handing out a book: Terug naar de schoenenboom by Milouska Meulens, illustrated by Hedy Tjin. To get it you first have to spend 13.50 euro on children's books in the same shop. The book itself is not the valuable part. The valuable part is the line behind it: a child holding that gift book gets into Avonturenpark Hellendoorn or Familiepark Drievliet free, any day up to 1 November. A dated ticket at Hellendoorn costs 20.50 euro on the park's own price page, and Drievliet lists its tickets from 24.50 euro.

• Kinderboekenweek 2026 runs from 30 September to 11 October, under the title Spot aan! (source 1)
• The gift book is free with 13.50 euro of children's books in a bookshop, and there is a large-print edition for readers who struggle with small type. (source 2)
• On showing the gift book a child enters Avonturenpark Hellendoorn or Familiepark Drievliet free, on condition that at least one paying adult accompanies each child; the arrangement runs from 30 September to 1 November. (source 2)
• Hellendoorn's own price page: a dated ticket is 20.50 euro from 90 centimetres tall, children under 90 centimetres are 0 euro, a season-wide Flexticket is 32.95 euro, and parking starts at 9.95 euro a day. (source 3)
• Drievliet lists tickets from 24.50 euro and states that the earlier you book the bigger the discount; its booking page prices a parking card at 6.00 euro. (source 4)

Step one is counting how many children actually go free. The official condition is at least one paying adult per child, so the number of free children is the smaller of the two: children, or paying adults. Two adults and two children at Hellendoorn would pay 4 x 20.50 = 82.00 euro; with the gift book it is two adult tickets at 41.00 euro plus 13.50 euro of books, so 54.50 euro. One adult with two children is a different sum: only one child goes free, the second still pays 20.50 euro, and 41.00 plus 13.50 is again 54.50 euro against an original 61.50. The same book saves the first group 27.50 euro and the second 7.00.

Step two is the line that is easiest to miss. Children under 90 centimetres already enter Hellendoorn for nothing. If your child has not reached 90 centimetres the gift book saves nothing at the gate; it is simply a book. The arrangement pays off for the age band that already needs a full-price ticket and still wants a theme park.

Choosing between the two parks is not a ticket-price question. Hellendoorn is 20.50 euro plus 9.95 euro parking; Drievliet is from 24.50 euro plus 6.00 euro parking. One adult arriving by car pays 30.45 euro at the first and 30.50 at the second, five cents apart. The four-euro gap in ticket price is cancelled by parking. Add people and the parking spreads thinner, which is when Hellendoorn becomes the cheaper one again: work out ticket price times paying visitors plus parking for your own group and the answer flips with the headcount.

One thing undoes that sum. Drievliet states that booking earlier gives a bigger discount, so its price for a given day moves, while Hellendoorn's dated ticket is a flat 20.50 euro. The 30.45 against 30.50 therefore holds only on a day when Drievliet is at its floor price, and it widens if you book late.

Hokimi field note: the book comes from the bookshop and the park only honours it. Bookshops hand it out across the twelve days from 30 September to 11 October, while the parks accept it for thirty-three days, to 1 November. The two windows are not the same length, so a family planning to go late in October has to collect the book before 11 October. Walk into a bookshop on 12 October and the park half of the deal is already gone.

Where

Bookshops nationwide for the book; the parks are Avonturenpark Hellendoorn and Familiepark Drievliet

When

Book handed out 30 September to 11 October; parks honour it to 1 November

Price

Gift book free at the 13.50 euro book threshold; Hellendoorn dated ticket 20.50 euro; Drievliet from 24.50 euro

Ages

No age limit stated officially; under 90 centimetres is already free at Hellendoorn

Note

Every free child needs one paying adult alongside