About Karina Schaapman
Karina Schaapman (1960, Netherlands) grew up in a neighbourhood where she felt she didn't quite belong. Her Indonesian mother was stared at in the street; neighbours kept their distance and complained about the smells coming from their kitchen. It wasn't an easy childhood, but it was a loving one. Her mother taught her to hold her head high, to be proud of who they were, and to make something beautiful out of very little. When Karina was thirteen, her mother died and she was left on her own. What her mother had given her, she never lost — and it's hidden in everything she has since made with her hands.
About The Mouse Mansion
In 2008, Karina began building the world she wishes for every child. Room by room, out of cardboard, scraps of fabric and things other people threw away. What started as an idea grew into a house of more than a hundred rooms, full of small details you only notice when you look closely. It's a world where everyone is welcome, where neighbours greet each other instead of looking away, and where a new story waits for you behind every door. Everything Karina missed as a child, she has rebuilt here by hand.
Look closely and you'll see where it all comes from. The little floors are made of ice-cream sticks, the tiny cakes baked in bottle caps, the curtains cut from old scraps of fabric. Nothing is too small or too worthless to be given a place — exactly what her mother taught her. And the house is never finished: there's always another room, a little staircase, a little shop, a new resident with a story of their own.
About Sam and Julia
In that house live Sam and Julia: two little mice and the very best of friends, as different as can be. Sam is a little more cautious, Julia jumps right on top of everything — together they balance each other out perfectly. They explore the house from attic to cellar and the big world beyond, and along the way things sometimes go wrong. But they always pick themselves up again, and at the end of each day all is well once more. That's why children dare to come along on the adventure: in the mouse house, things always turn out right.
Our mission
With Sam & Julia we want to inspire families around the world to be creative, welcoming, and kind!
THE FOUNDERS
Karina Schaapman
Founder
Ian Schaapman
CEO
Manita Schaapman
Creative Director
Tom Schaapman
Creative
Lili Schaapman
Founder
Our Team
Jeannine Lafèbre
Licensing, Publishing & Partnerships
Nica de Bloeme
CFO
Cristina Fontanarosa
Marketing Manager
Laura van der Woude
e-Commerce Manager
Nick van Loenen
Distribution Manager
Heleen van den Broek
Retail Manager
