Not strictly Amsterdammers, but the adventures of Jip & Janneke have been loved by Amsterdam children for generations. And their author, Annie M G Schmidt did start out as a reporter on Het Parool newspaper. In the 50 years since they were invented, over five million Jip & Janneke books have been sold.

Chainstore Hema has the rights to the snub-nosed silhouette drawings of the duo and it prints them on anything that will appeal to kids, from pencil cases to shampoo.