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CHILDREN'S BOOKS
Two Winners
by John O'Connell
A Day On Skates
Written and illustrated by Hilda van Stockum
Bethleham Books
41 pp.
The Mitchells: Five for Victory
Written and illustrated by Hilda van Stockum
Bethleham Books
236 pp.
Bethleham Books is proving to be a tremendous boon to children and their parents by republishing outstanding children's books that were previously out of print. Good books (that is books that are well written and partake of the good) serve to inform the mind, form the character, and please the soul.
Hilda van Stockum is the author of many such good books for children. A Day On Skates is a delightful story that enchants its readers, no matter what their age. It is a book full of joy, good cheer, and simple decency. The story is set in Holland, some time before the advent of the Second World War. The reader accompanies nine-year-old twins Evert and Afke and their class on a day's skating picnic. Along the way the reader learns a great deal about life in Holland during those days. But it is the characters, especially the children, that constitute the book's appeal. These are believable children not stereotyped cartoon figures. I might add, it is refreshing to see an unapologetic portrayal of feminine girls and virile boys.
The book is moral without being moralistic and subtly deals with the importance of virtue and friendship. Hilda van Stockum has given us a well-wrought story accompanied by charming illustrations (seven in color). Her prose shimmers like ice on the Dutch canals:
The warmth of the stove had melted the tracery of ice on the panes, and now the children could see the white and silver fairyland which Father Frost had shaken out of his bag last night. The trees in front of the house were covered with ice, looking as though they had been lifted from some giant wedding cake, and on the shimmering surface of the snow they could see no footprints except here and there the fan-shaped making of a bird's claw.
The Mitchells: Five For Victory tells an engaging story of five children living in Washington, D.C. during World War II. (It is the first of a trilogy; Canadian Summer and Friendly Gables being the sequels.) The Mitchells' father is off to war so the children decide to pitch in and help mother and the war effort. It is an account of the small domestic adventures of the children involving friends, an antagonist, pets, and a few surprises.
While caught up in the story, the reader effortlessly learns something about life in the United States during the Second World War: rationing, Victory gardens, and blackouts. And it can do no harm for some to see how children preoccupied themselves before the arrival of television and computer games.
Hilda van Stockum manifests her talent for creating an interesting story with numerous twists and well-drawn characters. It is a work of gentle humor, wise insights, and heart-warming scenes. The author writes a wonderful story for children which parents can also enjoy; she is never condescending or patronizing. The Mitchells: Five For Victory has a solid but subtle Catholic framework undergirding it. The young Mitchells are as at home with prayer, blessed medals, a Christmas pageant, and attending church as with fairy tales, parrots, and childish mischief.
To order these books call 1-800-757-6831.