- six children work together to attract storks to their small Dutch village
- many setbacks mixed into much humor makes for a marvelous read-aloud
- language: x4 stupid, x8 golly, x1 gosh, x1 blasted
- convo: mild name calling, a spanking, mentions a man getting his legs bit off by a shark
Type: chapter book
Ages: 7-12
Author: Meindert DeJong
Illustrator: Maurice Sendak
As I alluded to above, my kids and I greatly enjoyed this one together the first time through. They always cheered when it was the one I picked up for lunch. 🙂 There’s no great suspense or stomach-wrenching conflict. It’s just an enjoyable story that really sticks with you afterwards.
One of my favorite parts of this book was how manly the men were, how strong and helpful the women were, and how the children were more autonomous in their activities (not needing adults around) yet obedient and respectful to their elders. A sweet friendship develops between a girl and a grandmotherly figure. At times, the whole village works together and makes you yearn for that kind of multi-generational tight-knit community. [Happy sigh]
It also might inspire your children to expand their imaginations and work diligently toward seemingly-impossible goals. 🙂 That’s how this story starts, and their teacher does a great job at leading them toward discovering solutions and methods all on their own.
You may want to look up images of dikes, wooden shoes and other Dutch-ish things that come up so that children can better visualize the scenes.
Overall, definitely consider this for your next family read-aloud. It’s good on its own, but could also be combined with studies on birds or the Netherlands!