[2] An ultimate honour was extended to her posthumously, in 2007, when a group of Dutch historians compiled the "Canon of the Netherlands" and included Schmidt, alongside national icons such as Vincent van Gogh and Anne Frank.

Schmidt received the 1988 Hans Christian Andersen Medal for her lasting contribution as a children's writer.

[11][12] She was a solitary child wearing heavy glasses, who found an escape in writing poetry and fiction, even though she once received a grade of 2 (on a scale of 1 to 10) in Dutch class—she would later brag about the report card.

[13] After secondary school in Goes and working as an au pair in Germany, she began to study for a job as a librarian, an occupation she held until 1946.

Her literary career took off in the early 1950s, and included song- and playwriting for the theatre, scripts for radio and television shows, columns for newspapers, and children's books.

She died of voluntary euthanasia one day after her 84th birthday[14] (with a combination of pills and alcohol[15]) and was buried in Amsterdam.

[citation needed] Schmidt began writing Jip en Janneke while working in Amsterdam at Het Parool.

Some story lines were based on real adventures involving Schmidt's son Flip and the girl next door.

[19] Winning two Golden Calves, Minoes was the best-selling Dutch children's film to date, and the DVD was certified platinum in 2002.