Thé Tjong-Khing (b.1933) studied for three years at art school in Bandung, Indonesia. In 1956, he came to the Netherlands, where he worked at the studio of the most celebrated Dutch cartoonist, Marten Toonder. Until the end of the 1960s, he mainly drew comics like the Arman & Ilva series; Iris (1968) is his zenith as a comics artist. Then followed a rich career as a children’s book illustrator. Tjong-Khing has received many prizes for his work, including the Max Velthuijs Prize for his children’s books.