2026Miffy and Melanie on Holiday - Collectibles

Miffy
Miffy is a drawn white rabbit who plays the leading role in a series of books by Dick Bruna. The books are intended for toddlers and young children. Miffy, whose full name is miffy bun (nijntje pluis), has a father and mother, a grandpa and grandma, and friends such as Poppy Pig and Boris Bear. The stories usually revolve around small adventures in and around the home.

The rabbit, the other characters and all objects are depicted in their purest form using clear lines, making them almost like pictograms. The black outlines, painted with a brush, are filled with a limited number of bright colours. Miffy always looks directly at the reader, and emotions are expressed through subtle changes to the eyes and mouth.

Books
The first of the 32 miffy books created by Dick Bruna was published in 1955. Each book contained 24 pages, with an illustration on every right-hand page and four lines of verse on every left-hand page. The texts were written by Dick Bruna himself. No capital letters are used anywhere in the texts, not even in proper names. The books are square and small. Bruna believed it was important that children felt the books were made especially for them, rather than for their parents.

Translations
The books have been translated into more than fifty languages. As “nijntje” is difficult to pronounce in many other languages, the rabbit was often given different names. Since 1996, she has been known as Miffy everywhere outside the Netherlands. The books have also been translated into Dutch regional dialects such as those spoken in The Hague, Achterhoek, Twente and Katwijk.

Popularity
More than 90 million copies of the books have been sold worldwide. Miffy has become the main character in five children’s musicals, a cinema film and five television series. Merchandise is also popular worldwide: Miffy has appeared on tableware, children’s clothing, everyday items, puzzles, lamps and toys. All rights to Dick Bruna’s work are managed by Mercis bv.

Dick Bruna
Dick Bruna (1927–2017) was born in Utrecht and lived there for most of his life. During the final two years of the Second World War, he was unable to attend school and began painting and drawing. He was expected, as the fourth generation of his family, to join the publishing house A.W. Bruna & Zoon in Utrecht. After internships abroad, he convinced his father that he was not suited to publishing, but he did join the company as a designer. There, he created around 2,000 book covers, particularly for the Zwarte Beertjes paperback series.

From 1953 onwards, he also began creating his own picture books, more than 120 of which were published. He left the publishing house in 1968 and continued working in his own studio until 2011.

Museum
In 2006, the Dick Bruna House opened in Utrecht as part of the Centraal Museum. In 2015, it was transformed into the miffy Museum, a museum aimed at toddlers and young children, and the artist’s complete studio was moved to the attic of the Centraal Museum. In Utrecht, a street has been named after Bruna — Dick Brunasingel — and there is a statue of miffy on miffy Square.

Earlier stamps featuring Dick Bruna’s illustrations
PostNL have previously issued stamps featuring illustrations by Dick Bruna, including the Kinderpostzegels 1969, Decemberzegels 1995, Kinderpostzegels 2005 and Kinderpostzegels 2020. In 2015, a stamp was issued to mark miffy’s 60th anniversary.

DESIGN

Selected illustrations

Mercis bv holds a database containing more than 4,000 illustrations by Dick Bruna. Mariëlla Ostendorf, Manager Special Projects at Mercis, oversaw the development of the new stamps. In line with the release date at the beginning of summer, she chose the theme ‘holiday’.

Ostendorf: “For the pre-selection that I sent to the designer, I looked for summery illustrations with a cheerful feel. The illustration of miffy with the spade and bucket comes from the book miffy at the seaside, as do the shells and kites on the stamp sheet and packaging. The illustration of Melanie, the brown rabbit, comes from the book miffy and melanie.”

Rules
Only original illustrations by Dick Bruna have been used for the stamps. Ostendorf: “Dick Bruna used only a limited number of colours: red, yellow, blue, green and black. Sometimes these were supplemented with brown, orange and grey. We have adhered to this palette for this stamp issue.”

Stamp sheet design
Designer Frank Janse did not support the initial idea of featuring miffy on both stamps.

“It creates visual interaction between the two stamps if one shows miffy and the other melanie. They seem to play with one another. Around the stamps on the sheet are colourful shells and kites to enhance the feeling of summer, holidays and the seaside. All these illustrations are kept separate to remain true to the miffy style.”

Silver
Janse: “I felt that shiny silver did not suit miffy. That is why the silver used on the stamps has a matte finish. Only the silver in the sorting mark, the word ‘Nederland’, the numeral ‘1’, and the copyright line in the right-hand margin are glossy. The PostNL logo to the right of the stamp is also in glossy silver.”

Packaging
The packaging is slightly larger than usual and made of extra sturdy cardboard, giving it a luxurious feel.

Janse: “I made the overall design as colourful as possible.”

Typography
The typography for miffy and melanie on holiday uses Volta (1955, Konrad Friedrich Bauer/Walter Baum) and Helvetica Rounded Bold (1978, Linotype Design Studio).

About the designer
Frank Janse (Vlissingen, 1967) graduated as a graphic designer from the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam in 2001. He specialises in campaign identities, branding and infographics. He has worked for various advertising and design agencies, including Room for ID’s, as well as independently under the name Frank Grafisch Ontwerp in Gouda. In 2019, he co-founded Leene Visual Communication with Leene Communicatie. From late 2022, he was design director at VormVijf in The Hague, and since early 2026 he has been design director at Leene Communicatie. For PostNL, he has previously designed various luxury storage systems and a wide range of stamp series, including Beleef de natuur (2018–2026), postzegels met zilver Nederlandse scheepvaart, and Snoopy 75 jaar.