Return to home page
Curriculums For Homeschooling
Return to home page
Newsletter  Catalog   Secure Checkout   Shopping Cart  
Home Track My Orders My Account Customer Service Gift Certificates
   Search Site:
 
All Categories

A Day On Skates

By Hilda van Stockum (Author)
Our Price $ 15.76  
Retail Value $ 19.95  
You Save $ 4.19  (21%)  
Item Number 97101  
Buy New Item


Item Description...


Product Description

CONTENTS:

Chapter One: A Skating Picnic

Chapter Two: Evert's Accident

Chapter Three: Snow Pancakes

Chapter Four: Evert's Plan

Chapter Five: More Adventures

Chapter Six: Home Again

ILLUSTRATIONS:

Teacher gripped the front of the long pole

She forgot her fear in looking at the fine scenery around her

The canal narrowed considerably after it passed under the watergate

As many as could now took seats around the table

She joined him in admiring the gay scene

Balls flew right, left, and center, high and low

"Let's go up the stairs and have a look through the window"

The horses went off at a brisk trot, all the little bells tinkling their good-by

***

FOREWORD:

THIS is a book which mothers and fathers will sit up to finish, after the protesting child has been dragged firmly off to bed. Nobody who is once well along in this book will let the fortunes of Evert and Afke - and even more particularly, perhaps, of Simon - rest in uncertainty until tomorrow, except such members of the household as have no choice in the matter.

For this is more than just the charming account of certain Dutch customs, a description of what happens in the winter in Holland when there is ice on the canals; this is a good story. The children whose acquaintance you make in "A Day on Skates" are real children, not puppets; you will meet in these pages no dull little Miss Good, no tiresome little Master Naughty; these are real children, and they are delightful children. It is most unlikely that the small reader, or for that matter the reader who is very large indeed, will be indifferent as to whether or not the burgomaster changes his mind about (but I mustn't tell you what); whether or not the boys get safely down from (but I mustn't tell you where); whether or not Simon ever wins the friendship of (no, I mustn't say of whom).

Then there are the illustrations, which, in addition to being so extremely pretty just to look at, are so full of vivid and interesting detail, that if you study them a bit carefully you will not only get pleasure and amusement from them, you will also be learning something, and quite painlessly, too.

In short, this is a book which should be in the library of every child who likes to read, or likes to look at pictures, or is curious to know what children in foreign countries are like.

EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY

Lulworth Cove, Dorset
April, 1934

* * * * *

a selection from CHAPTER I - A Skating Picnic:

IN THAT small country called Holland, with its many canals and dykes, its low fields and quaint little villages, Father Frost went prowling round one January night, with his bag full of wonders. It had been a warm winter, full of rain and mist. The children had complained and the elderly people had coughed and grumbled that life was not what it used to be. How dreary that little country looked when the fields were soaked with rain and the trees stretched their naked branches hopelessly towards the gray clouds.

Nine-year-old Evert and Afke were sure that real winter would never come. Every day they had to walk to school on sleety roads, their clogs slipping along in the mud. They lived in the village of Elst, which lies in the Province of Friesland, and this January night they were fast asleep under the large thatched roof of their mother's and father's farmhouse, not knowing how busy Father Frost was outside.

First Father Frost waved his hand and snow came falling down, hushing all sound and covering everything with its downy cloak. Then he blew the clouds away, and stars began to twinkle in the dark sky....







Be sure to check out our Christian Bible Book Store for daily specials and discounts on hundreds of thousands of great products.

(Actual website link is www.ChristianBibleBookStores.com. Thank you!)



Item Specifications...

Pages   44
Dimensions:   Length: 7.7" Width: 10.9" Height: 0.4"
Weight:   1.04 lbs.
Binding  Hardcover
Release Date   Apr 1, 2007
Publisher   Bethlehem Books
Age  4-8
ISBN  1932350187  
EAN  9781932350180  


Availability  4 units.
Availability accurate as of Feb 07, 2012 09:15.
Usually ships within one to two business days from Sparks, NV.
Orders shipping to an address other than a confirmed Credit Card / Paypal Billing address may incur and additional processing delay.


Product Categories
1Books > Subjects > Children's Books > Ages 4-8 > General   [45757  similar products]
2Books > Subjects > Children's Books > Issues > Twins   [53  similar products]
3Books > Subjects > Children's Books > People & Places > Explore the World > Fiction > Europe & Russia   [186  similar products]
4Books > Subjects > Children's Books > People & Places > Family Life > General   [2565  similar products]
5Books > Subjects > Nonfiction > Education > Homeschooling > General   [9269  similar products]



Similar Products
The Cottage at Bantry Bay (Van Stockum, Hilda, "Bantry Bay" Series.)
The Cottage at Bantry Bay (Van Stockum, Hilda, "Bantry Bay" Series.)
Item: 76084



Reviews - What do our customers think?
A Skating Holiday in Old-Time Holland (Newbery Runner-Up)  Mar 26, 2008
This beautiful new edition of Hilda Van Stockum's picture-book masterpiece was warmly welcomed by my family. You see, until now we owned an old copy from eBay with cracked and brittle pages. But it was still a favorite.

A Day on Skates is a simple story of a Dutch brother and sister who go on a skating picnic with their teacher and classmates for a whole day. For modern children, the setting and events open up the imagination to far away times and places. There are humorous episodes and simple lessons in humanity present in the story. The writing is lovely and engaging. The pen-and-ink illustrations and occasional full-page color paintings are a perfect complement to the story.

A particular strength of the author's writing is her sympathetic view of the human condition. Here is a perfect example from the story:

"Every Dutch boy and girl loves to skate, and every Dutch man and woman, too. And no wonder. Holland with its canals and streams has many miles of ice when the cold at last arrives. Both Evert and Afke had learned to skate when they were very small. Indeed, Afke had been only three when she first tottered on pigmy skates, carefully held up by her father. By now she had become quite an expert, and Evert was even better. He had won several prizes in his school's skating tournaments. One of the prizes had been a beautiful book called Robinson Crusoe, which he had read so often that the cover had come off. Another time he won a silver pencil, which he gave to Afke, and the last time it had been a book entitled Good Henry, the story of a boy who was always good. This he had promptly traded for a penknife."

We bring this book out again and again, particularly on chilly winter days. Although the text is a bit longer than your average picture book, it's broken up into short chapters. We tend to read a chapter at a time spread out throughout a day.

This would make a lovely gift for children of all ages.
 

Write your own review about A Day On Skates



© Copyright 2009 Curriculums for HomeSchooling