190: The Wheel on the School

Welcome back to Sophomore Lit, where we reread your tenth grade reading list. I'm John McCoy and with me is co-host Jill Hoffman. Good evening, John. It's good to be here. Hi, Jill. This is your first time on the show. Um, and and I am very happy to have you on. You reached out to me with an idea for a book. Why don't you introduce yourself to the people out there?

Happy to do so. I'm Jill Hoffman. I'm a registered civil engineer in Atlanta, Georgia. I've worked the last 20 years designing water and wastewater treatment plants. I also have three kids, eight, ten, and twelve. And I was reading this book to my twelve year old when I reached out to John. Well, I'm I'm impressed. I did not know until you just mentioned it right now that you do uh civil engineering. That's that's uh beyond my pay grade. I'm just a humanities type.

So um so you you uh brought up this book, which is I'm going to I'm going to probably mispronounce all the Dutch names here, so I I I I apologize to anyone listening from the Netherlands. This is The Wheel on the School by Mind. De Young and uh it was nineteen fifty four. It won the Newberry Prize in nineteen fifty-five. And apparently he has several. I didn't read any of his other books, but apparently he is prolific. Sad to say I did not read this book. I have no excuse. This book

was a well established uh Newberry winner by the time I was a kid reading books. I should have read this book, but um I'm glad to have read it now. You mentioned you're reading it to your kids now. Wha how how where did you first Uh encounter this book. I you know, I'm actually not sure. Well, I didn't have the kind of parents that would take me to the library.

And I I did have teachers that would introduce me to books. I don't actually know how I came by this. I got it as a used book. So by now, thirty years after that, it is yellowed and old. But I just remember r reading it multiple times um in middle and and early high school and it's just I just uh was always struck by its sweetness. There's no villains, there's no super dark elements. You know, there was time later for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and uh

uh horror, you know, horror comedies and things. But at this at this time point, this was really hitting the the spot for me for um just a sweet story. W Meinhart de Jung did write a lot, although uh looking at his Wikipedia page, he had a kind of an uh roundabout career. I believe he was also an engineer during World War Two. Um Fan born born in the Netherlands, family immigrated to uh uh the Midwest. I do know that there's a lot of um

There there's a lot of these little enclaves of of of like Dutch enclaves and Scandinavian enclaves and German enclaves that that all all throughout the the Midwest. Um And and I think one of those things that's kind of sweet about the the book for me is uh this narrative voice he has, which is so um It's so fabular. It's so like someone sitting down and telling you a story like a like a a grandparent telling you is the story and something about it

Uh mm I don't know if if if I'm I'm right or wrong, but something about it comes from the fact that English is not his first language. He's a master of English, but the locutions are a little bit funny. They are. And there's a little bit of repetition. And I and I'm reading it aloud to my daughter. So I'm able to edit those out without losing anything. But there's a little bit of repetition. So it's just a slight tinge of picking up that this might be a non-native speaker.

But it's still very fluid and and I agree with you, it's an omniscient narrator. But it doesn't go so far as to knowing quite everybody's thoughts and everybody's motivations and all of that. You just get a little, a little glimpse of the characters here and there, just enough to feel like you you know them. Right. Um

I don't know when this is set, but I I assume it's set either in the late nineteenth century or early twentieth century. Is there I I I I I had meant to look up because they make a lot of references. to the Queen. And I was meaning to look up when there was a Queen as the regent of of the Netherlands. Uh do you do you know any of this or not? I do not I I did look up closet bed.

And I was very curious about that. And it said so the closet beds are kind of older. They fell out of fashion. I mean, they were in fashion as early as the 16th century. by the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, they were out of fashion. So it it is early, but you're right. That's that's one thing that's hard to pin down is exactly the the time period. They don't make a lot of references to the technology, but that was the one thing I was able to grab onto was the closet bed.

In some ways it doesn't matter because this is a story about in i uh a a Netherlands that's so picturesque. And and everybody is wearing uh clogs, wooden clogs. Everyone's you know, the the the the girls are have their little Dutch bonnets on. It's it's, you know, at least in the illustrations by uh Maurice Sindak. Uh this was one of the first books he did for Harper and Roe. And this is very early in his career before he started doing his own books. Uh and and I love I love looking at uh

illustrator's very early work, you know, but before I I love this. I love like if you Edward Gory uh began as a book designer and there's these uh these paperback covers that he designed that you can find. Uh, but th this is just, you know, beautiful, beautiful uh Maurice Beck. You talk about uh repetition and I think the the funniest thing is at the beginning

There's a part where the narrator introduces us to these six little kids who are going to be the protagonists of the story. And the way he introduces them is very childlike. He talks about like, well, the first one's big, the fur the the second one's kind of clumsy. The there's not much to say about the third one except he's a nice guy. You could you could play with him, you know, and and and when he introduces uh

Uh Yella, the the biggest of the six. He says, there was Yella. He was the biggest of the six. He was big and husky for his age. And it's just the it's that kind of odd repetition that, you know, I I may be crazy, but it reminded me a little bit of uh uh of Gertrude Stein. Um, if you've ever I don't know if you've ever read Gertrude Stein. Is she's kind of a a a difficult uh person to read through, but uh in little doses she's she's very funny.

And I think that's part of why it's it's written for it it's geared for a younger reader. It really is geared for the the ten to thirteen, ten to twelve year year old range. of of reader. I'm I'm reading it to my daughter, but it would certainly be something that she could that she could read herself. And that that simplicity would would resonate with her, you know. I I did pronounce that name Jella throughout and I li it's like Jell-O, it's Jella and

So many of the names are similar. So again, going to the repetition, all the names start with L or J, and there's just there's no other variation. We can't have any other names. I know.

No very little Dutch. But I do follow this guy on YouTube who goes by the name language simp, and he did a uh video on Dutch recently. So I I I I I I do know that the J is generally pronounced as a Y. and that d all the double letters are simply you lengthen the vowel. Um But that's but I I I you know, I if if anyone's listening from the Netherlands, please uh please correct my uh my speech.

But in but in any case, uh this is a story of uh how the kids get this plan to bring storks back to the town, to this little town. Um called Shaura. Um and uh th it's a very pictures pi uh picturesque. It's picturesque, but I was gor trying to say it's a pictoresque book in that It wanders from one scene to another as all the kids scramble around trying to find uh a wagon wheel. They've been told that's how you get a stork.

to nest on your homes, you get a wagon wheel. And um so they they go on all different directions and you they they meet all these um eccentric uh adults around town and slowly this becomes a community project for the whole town. That every everyone starts to become interested in this idea of why why can't we bring storks back? Uh, they blame it on the pitch of the roofs that they have and the fact that they don't have any trees around.

Right. And and it came from uh uh because it it it needed it for the story to happen. Lena wrote uh a story about it. about why we don't have storks anymore. And that just set the whole book in motion. So it's just that's just where how it that's what catalyzed it. And here they are. They're all going to different towns looking for a wagon wheel to put on these steeply pitched roofs.

So that they can have storks again. Storks bring good luck. I mean, since Egyptian times they've been associated with um bringing babies, right? So It's it's a good thing to have a stork, and that's all the motivation the characters need. They are they are ready to bring storks. I it it also alludes several times to the kids getting out of school to be able to do this project. So that fuels their enthusiasm.

This is a story about kids that are largely unsupervised. Um you know, as a as a member of Gen X who famously we were kind of left to our own devices, it's it does my heart good to see kids just literally wandering off taking rides from strange tinsmiths into completely different towns in their search for wagon wheels. And we call these kids, we're not given the age of them either. Later he he speaks of tots when referring to these kids' siblings, l younger siblings.

And the images, uh, the the really beautiful drawings, like you said, they show the kids every now and again. But even Yellow, who's supposed to be the big one, they all kind of look the same size. And it was really difficult for me. Are these kids eight going town to town looking for a wheel? Are they more like sixteen? It was I could you get a sense of how old these children were?

I I really don't. Uh I really don't have a good sense. I get the sense that the adults they meet are um At first they seem kind of an annoyed by the kids, like why what are these kids doing in my barn, in my yard? But then they become very uh interested in what the kids are doing. So I'm picturing s I'm picturing, you know, I I I'm thinking of my own childhood. And uh it would have been around the age of

ten or eleven that I was wandering off into people's yards, which was still something you could do when I was a kid. Not not that the people liked it, but I remember there was a a a sp someone's backyard that all the kids on the on our block uh would go through. It was a shortcut to get to the next road. Um and I think at a certain point the people who owned that house stopped even trying to uh stop us.

Um but no, I don't I have no idea. I th I think one of the things that's interesting i is uh they the kids are are very sketchily introduced. This introduction doesn't really do a lot to um cement anyone's personality in in your mind. And as the book goes on, you I think you get to see each of them doing their own thing. But I honestly think what happens is about uh a third of the way through the book, two of the kids who are are are um

uh the uh twins and their names are what are their names? Uh Jerek and and and Pieter. Um they they go into this guy's yard, this guy named Giannis, who is a uh uh legless elderly man who the kids are all scared of, and then he becomes uh very friendly and he sort of takes over the book as far as I'm concerned. He becomes sort of in some ways the main character of the book because he's very funny.

And he's very competent at everything he does. And he he uh more than any of the other adults around him, he has caught the stork fever from the kids. There is a strong current through the book of respecting your elders because they're amazing and doing can do great things if they're just not trapped in their houses being looked down upon as useless.

it there's a lot of characters who get that art. There's three, right? Dua and Grandmother Sybil the Third and Giannis. They all get the arc of com you know, rejoining the community and and becoming more of the community and becoming, you know, friendly with the children and guiding the children. Giannis is funny, my my note says he from feared town ogre into part of the village. I mean, he he's uh almost a mythical uh bad guy uh when they first when they first meet him.

He's he's got a cherry tree that all the kids want the cherries from. It's the only fruit tree in town. And I I was just baffled. I thought, well. It's the only fruit tree in town. And what is what does he do with all of this fruit? And and why is there not enough to share with the children? Why is he so protective of of the sty uh thousands of cherries? I don't know how many cherries come out of a cherry tree, but surely it's more than one man and his wife can consume.

There was a cherry tree, uh, that I remember as a a kid and um it was in the neighborhood and from I would say about June to about Um halfway through July it just shed cherries like nobody's business. So I d I don't I don't know. Maybe it was a different variety of cherry. I think those were Bing cherries. You t you talk about um how the kids learn that they're the grown ups in their town have reserves of talent and strength and that only comes out when they're engaged in this activity.

What the kids are doing though is they're getting the the parents um out of their isolation. You know, a lot a lot of a lot of these a lot of these uh adults don't really relate to one another. Certainly the women in town are very domestic in the sense that their their lives completely uh s are centered at home. They don't tend to get out. uh Yannis never leaves his his yard. Uh Dua, um, who's another elderly uh gentleman, uh

He he never gets out either. And suddenly they're all out. They're they're they're revealing skills and experiences that the kids never ha knew they had.

And uh you know, the like i the there's um dua knows where there is a uh a wheel. It's out in the harbour underneath the capsized boat that used to belong to doa's father. And and there's the just the simple act of asking the uh, you know, the the the the teacher tells the kids early on, you need to look for things where they can't possibly be. And that's the I think that's the other

uh big moral of the story is you'll never know until you start looking uh about anything in life. Or, you know, you'll never you'll never achieve anything until you start trying. And um It it turns out that there's lots and lots of wagon wheels out there, um, of of varying quality and varying um uh r uh availability but it but uh the kids start to learn something about the uh the all these people's ch childhoods and they they ha a

These people have living memory of storks coming to town. And they're like, yeah, that would be a great idea. Let's get some more storks back. Yeah, we uh uh we should mention it is a seaside town, so all the men It's unilaterally two genders, right? The men go to the sea.

There's three elderly people who are too old to do anything, we're we're told initially. And then the women stay in their houses with the children. And then there's these six children that are school age, quote unquote, age six to some number. And they are actually in school. So yes, the women are very insular and and in their houses and they come out of their houses to help.

find the children. But um yes, it r it's really used to stoke the children's curiosity. And I like that as well, that it translates very well to the reader thinking, well, where might the wagon wheel be? And and there's definitely this is definitely pre automobile. There are wagons.

But what was kind of surprising to me is there weren't more wagon wheels because it seems like that's the only way to get around. I guess people just didn't have wagons. There's the one man with the wagon, the tin man, and he uses it to drive around and everybody else just walked. And then so there's wagon wheels and and random places.

you know, a shed over here or uh the tin man there's there's an extra one that he ends up getting out of somebody's barn. Um but they're not they're not as uh uh um easily found as you would expect in like an agrarian type society where this is the only mode of transport.

Yeah. Yeah, d definitely. And uh Uh uh in another book maybe there would be more discussion of the economy of this town, you know, because I I I I got the feeling that the wagon wheels were a precious commodity in s in s you know, because uh uh obviously you had to go to a skilled crafts person to get your wagon. Um at one point though the um the k the kid which is the kid who goes off with the tin men? That's um Okay.

Alka goes off with the Tin Man and he's and he goes on a trip to the next town and he learns all about the the tinman's economic problems, the the woes. He's he's like not been able to sell anything. And the Tin Man is is unwilling to give up the wagon wheel he has, even though it's faulty because he can't afford a new one. And um It w he uh Alka s at one point suggests that he he go to the Cooper, the the the barrel maker, um to to f to f uh fix the wheel.

And uh the Tinman is like delighted with this idea. It's like, Wow, that's a great idea you know, which is sort of like uh I guess, you know, if you can't afford a doctor going to the veterinarian or something. I I don't But I g I guess, you know, i the it's very it's very much the same set of technology, you know, the wire the the the metal rim, the um working with woods, although uh a wagon wheel has spokes, I guess.

And I was I was just surprised. They talk about farmers. So you've got the farmers in the field, you've got the men on the ship. But I was very surprised there didn't seem to be a lot of again that connectivity even between towns that a child could walk to in an afternoon to to find someone who has a wheel. So these these these places are close by, but

Yeah, they didn't have a lot of wagon wheels except the one that Old Dua knows about, who is I think in his nineties. So when we say yes, he is uh he is a um an elderly member of the community, he knows of one. It is It is in a harbor and so that the town is surrounded by dikes. And so that the kids go um uh ditch jumping, they're jumping over the water, there's just water's a uh a a constant force. And what I like about the book is it does

It makes you feel close to the characters and the town and this very simplistic, seeming lifestyle, right? Very hard living but simple living.

Um, but but it also makes you close to nature. And so he's always talking about um the fields and the water and just how their lives are controlled by is the tide coming in, is the tide going out, there's a big storm later. And I really like that. But yes, there's just the, I guess, a a bay of some sort, and the tide has gone way out. So it's just muck at this point. And there's a turned over boat with a wagon wheel inside of it.

And the eight year old girl, Lena, decides that that's the wheel for her and she and Doa are going to go get it before the tide comes back in basically that afternoon. Yeah, i th they get they they g go out to this capsized boat and they get stranded on it.

Lena paced back and forth on the boat. Now you'd better yell to your mother to get back on that dike before the real sweep of the tide knocks her off her feet. See, there it comes. The old man pointed to the great wall of water rushing toward them from out the deep distant sea.

He began lighting his pipe. Mother, get back, get back, Lena called across the rushing water. It's coming. Hurry, run up the dike. We're all right here. Her mother and Jenka plunged through the deepening water and scurried up the dike. But near the bottom of the dike the two women whirled desperately. Once more a scream came across to the boat as the wall of water came thundering. What will we do? Oh what will we do?

You better sit down here with me, Dua told Lena. Pacing back and forth on this slippery boat, you might slide off. Sitting is safer. Just let them scream. It makes them feel a little better. The others are getting a farmer, and that's all that needs to be done, even if the tide goes over the boat.

before the farmer gets here, we'll just get our feet wet. And since you're young and don't have to worry about rheumatism, when it comes that high, I'll just have to sit on your shoulders. Lena choked and gave the old man an astonished look. Then she laughed. And there's a fascinating rescue that's made. The people who go out to rescue'em are coming out on a wagon and they have to take the wheels off their wagon because it's gonna get stuck in the silt uh at the bottom of the of the bay.

So they've created this little boat that's being pulled through the water by a horse. It's so unbelievably dangerous. I just all I can think of I get it. They're seafaring children. They're the children of fishermen. They, you know, they have a healthy respect, but also this the sea is their mistress, you know. But still, this is incredibly dangerous.

small child and an elderly man to go and decide they're gonna just hoist themselves up by the chain and get on top of the boat and they're gonna lower themselves in. And and the the um the way it's written Um, is is just really interesting. You really it's really magnetic and it and it's just it's it's very kinetic writing when you're when you're reading it, when they're talking about how dangerous this is. And then the water does start to come in and they have to float.

a makeship raft out there to rescue them. It's just it's it's fascinating.

It goes from very quiet moments where they're walking through and just um, you know, walking down the dike and you hear Lena's thoughts or or whatnot, and then to these really uh insane moments where they're divine death basically, you know, in a really dangerous situation. Later on, one of the children falls into the dike and he can't get back out again because he was

using spokes from a wheel that he found to to use a makeshift ladder to get down to get the rest of the wagon wheel. And what the spokes start coming out of the dike, so he's in the water and can't get out. And as a parent myself, I'm just thinking, who are the parents? This is uh can can it s can some parent leave their house and look around for the children?

But they're just their their bravery is really interesting and it and it is fiction, right? So it is um a little fantastical in that regard, but it they're they're they're brave in some instances and they're fearful in other instances. It's it's a nice ebb and flow of the narrative. You're right to call it out for the for uh the danger. Like the kids keep finding themselves in crazy situations. You mentioned the tots. Late in the book, these two little kids are introduced.

who promptly get themselves locked inside the uh bell tower of the church and uh they're they're wandering around through the the the this the the innards of the of of of the bells there. Uh and um And one of them is like going like lying underneath this enormous bell, like uh wanting to move the clapper by hand. And all I can think is like this is all very uh yeah, y y y I'm sure that uh a a as a kid, you're probably enjoying the the excitement. As an a as a parent, you're like, uh

And they and the kids often take off their wooden shoes to do these very dangerous things. So that thing that was also baffling. They're doing all of all of these things. Just wearing socks, basically. They just leave the wooden shoes behind. Those very quickly have not enough utility to climb a ladder or climb a rope. And

And and I and I did see that later they got leather uppers and now they're mostly just used for um performances and things. But yes, for a very long time they they did wear wooden shoes. Often those just get cast aside and they are just wearing socks walking around. Right. I was I was was told that the wooden shoes were for when you're out in the field so that if a

cow steps on your foot, you don't get uh you don't get uh broken. But uh I I I always wonder about the utility of those. Uh I my mom had a pair that were purely decorative that she'd gotten somewhere. And uh as a kid I was fascinated by them. You know, that's you know, I uh like most Americans, I know so little about the Netherlands, but you the what you what you know are all those

um those quaint things about wooden shoes and tulips and uh and windmills. And this book has all of that except for except for tulips.

Mm-hmm. And one of the funny things is I was reading it to I'm actually my ten year old daughter heard that I was reading it to my twelve year old daughter, so of course. Now she wants it to be read to her. So actually I I started rereading the book to my 10 year old. And when I got to the part where Yella says, girls are no good at ditch jumping, um, Gwen immediately piped up and said, what? Girls can do anything.

And I just I just juxtapose that against me in the early nineties reading this at her age. That would never have been my knee jerk reaction to that phrase. And I just I think it's interesting in in three decades, you know, how far we've come that that that was her immediate reaction. And I I mean I have two engineering degrees and I've been an engineer for twenty years. So it's not that I am a am a am a wall fire flower or anything from that regard, but she's um she's already thinking ahead.

Uh this is a book by uh white dude and uh the women are definitely um sidelined uh uh in a lot of the book, but but Lena duh is the instigator. And she does get to have some of the more dangerous adventures herself. That is really interesting. She she's the main character, but the the town women are

are very seriously sidelined and and denigrated to a large degree. And and I did talk about this with my older daughter. I said, you know, this is written from a man's perspective. So the women are just at home, just doing home stuff, but I I coached her. I said, think about how difficult it would have been. The men just go out on the ship. You don't know if they're gonna come back. And in the meantime, you're running this whole house.

cooking everything from scratch and there's no laundry machine and you're taking care of a passel of kids, right? It would actually be incredibly difficult and challenging, especially if your community is not pulled together. So you're right. It's it's an interesting um caveat there that the women aren't good for much except for this one eight year old girl or ten year old girl, Lena. She she's got all the drive and all the courage.

Well the women are uh are praised for bringing out hot chocolate to everybody uh during the the storm, I guess. Uh the the When they're out on that boat and they are waiting uh for rescue and they're worried about the tide coming in and everyone's talking about the tide coming in. At the point that that tide comes in, the book goes through several chapters of uh of of the storm and it's sort of it it's sort of like all hell is broken loose and um

The kids want to put up the the the kids are desperate to put up the wheel because they're feeling like their time is running out. And the the fact of the matter is uh that uh some of the storks out there are getting drowned. Uh I don't know if they they would be any safer getting uh a ashore. Um But i the it it becomes very tense, um, for you know, y as you say, there's no there's no bad guy in this story. There's no um

You know, there's there's some danger, but you never actually fear for anyone's lives. But you do start to fear for whether or not this project is going to succeed or not. Yes, they they mentioned that the storks migrate from Africa to Northern Europe and that is true. They they've done that historically. And I looked it up and the stork, you know, was almost extinct in the Netherlands and they've been bringing them back.

since the sixties and they've had a reintroduction plan to bring them back. But that is what they're worried about, is they'll miss that migration. The storm has slowed it down a little bit, but if you don't get the wheel up in time, so that's That's one of the constraints on the kids is where are they gonna find the wheel? And then, oh boy, we got to get it up because we'll miss the season. And then there all the storks will have nested elsewhere. So trying to get the wheel up.

And I I there's this storm that's just driving the water ahead of it, a wall of water ahead of it, and it becomes a week-long storm that uh that does kill a few of the birds. The pair of storks that they finally are able to rescue have been stranded because of the storm. They've gotten caught in basically like uh quicksand. It's not it's not quicksand, but it's the silt of the that's left behind and and there the birds are exhausted.

And uh I think th that that he does a good job describing them carrying these you know, trying to p pull these large birds that uh could turn back and and fight them at any minute. I mean, those those are substantial birds. They could really do some serious damage if they wanted to. And and I think at least the third or fourth instance of a child almost drowning in the book, they do rescue the storks. Thank goodness.

That was that was certainly worth the risk to that child's life to go on the sandbar to pull the storks out of the mud. They do they do rescue and bring the storks back and and it's incredibly sweet. It talks about the children cuddling the storks and protecting them and the and the women bring the hot chocolate and the they're bringing the storks in to warm them by the fire. The the men

They've been they've been in inland because of the storm and now they're waiting the storm to pass. So the men are there to finally get the wagon wheel onto the roof. That's finally happening. And I kept thinking in my head about just the mechanics of how would you mount a wheel securely on a steeply pitched roof. And they did they did allude to it a little bit, but They they they save the birds finally and they do they they do resuscitate these half drowned birds.

Right. And and uh in you know, to talk about gender relations in this book, the one thing that I found very bizarre was when they d when the narrator describes the uh female stork looking up at the male stork and calling uh the male stork her lord and master. I think I think I omitted that when I read it actually. And it's funny because my oldest daughter, she she she piped up

About two thirds of the way through the book, and she just goes, I don't like that the women are so helpless. I mean, it's not you know, both of my daughters, they're they're they're right in there. But They pick up on that. They they pick up on that. It's not a nuance in this book that the the women aren't are, you know, denigrated and subjugated. But

It's it's not too much in your face. It's just I I wish there was a little more consideration for them and how challenging it would be for them, particularly in such an isolated community. And particularly for it it almost he He almost... overdramatizes the women the the women, these women are all mothers, their response to the kids when they're missing or when they're out at sea, you know, oh, why are they screaming at us? Don't worry. They'll they'll come, they'll come get us.

And it's it's like, well, no, these are their children. They're in they're in death-defying situations. Of course th the women are gonna be upset about it. But um but it all turns out in the end. You know, he's the omniscient narrator, so he knows it's gonna be okay. I I remember being in high school in French class and uh you know, part of learning the languages, learning the culture and there there was a whole unit on Alsace Lorraine.

which is the border of France with uh Germany, and they're well known for having storks there. And I I was told that the reason they put wagon wheels up was because otherwise the storks would nest in the chimneys and you didn't want a a stork nest on your chimney. So this was sort of an a allowance that was being made. I they did they d they never mentioned that in this book. But um

After I read this book I I I started like reading up on European storks, you know. And it is really wonderful that they they get they get their storks and the really the only driver is they just went on this quest and they just got kind of pulled up in the romanticism of s we had storks before, we should have them again and they're good luck.

And and everybody just that's just something that's known by everyone. And other towns have storks. And the thread that's dropped that you mentioned at the beginning is they also don't have trees, but that is

not an issue towards the end of the book. The author forgets that they also don't have trees and that might not attract the storks, but I think it's uh that he gets around it by the storks being found in the muck and rescued. And so they get put on the wagon wheel and they're just kind of planted there. But

they they do get their resolution in the end and you know the you know the kids win. And it's so nice to to read um a story like this. It's it's sweet, it's based in nature, it's about community building. And there's no there's no bad guy. There's no there's no magic or dragons or any of the other things that my daughters tend to look for, but it's it's just a very um and and there's not I

You know, we've alluded to it a little bit how sweet it is, but it's not cloying. There's not a sentimentality that, you know, kind of hits you over the head while you're reading it. It is just a a brief glimpse into this, into the lives of these few people in this small fishing village. Yeah. I I th I think y you're absolutely right that uh it it's it's told in a manner y it it could be very uh

It could be very sentimental, it could be very uh nostalgic about a a lost uh part of uh Dutch culture. Um, you know, because this is certainly not the way that uh the Netherlands are today. But uh what saves that I think is De Young's extremely matter-of-fact writing. You know, he everything is so matter-of-fact. The sentences are actually very s sm short.

And he he um he limits himself to maybe one adjective per sentence. And uh you know, you you you appreciate that, uh, I think, uh, if you're if you if you like style.

And I do think it the other thing that you brought up is is absolutely true. This is a book about community community building and what the um the takeaway for me is You can't you can't have a community unl unless you have a shared project, you know, unless there's there's some sort of um shared values and and and goals that are being reached for. And that's, you know, people talk about that a lot today, about how in America people are so

isolated from one another and how we've kind of lost our sense of civic responsibility. And, you know, this this book uh gives a gives a kind of an interesting uh solution for that, which is you find the project that uh brings people together, you know.

It in some ways it didn't have to be storks. It could have been anything else, but uh it was storks for this little town and you know, whatever you wanted to be for your little town, you know, if you want to rebuild a a a a historic building if you want to make a green space, if you know what th those are the things that uh bring us all together.

And and having empathy for the people in in the community that can't participate. I I I like that that was a very strong thing, that it introduces the older people. You know, the the the housewives don't have as quite as much consideration by the author, but you know, the older people definitely get pulled into the story. They get pulled into the gravity of what the kids are trying to accomplish.

And, you know, it it shows that the elderly are able to provide useful services. They now have they they seem to have more dignity and purpose by the end of the novel. They're more involved with the other adults in in the community. And I think that that and and some of the kids get growth as well. So, you know, the the shy one gets a little braver.

you know, Jelly gets a little more sure of himself. Yelly gets a little more sure of himself. So there's a there's a there's a slight through line for each of them. But yes, it's it's inclusion and acceptance and making space for nature. There's just a lot of good messages.

in a story that's got some very kind of magnetic characters in it. And and on the basis of w we've got to we've got to save the animals. We've got to save the birds and bring the birds back to our community because they'll they'll bring us luck, basically. Any any other observations from from your kids about this book? I'm very curious to know how they're how they take this.

I I I think that they they mostly just like it and I was very surprised. My you know, my twelve year old, she reads she reads a lot of dragon books. She th 3D prints dragons. Dragons are on the brain. But it it's been really phenomenal to me to see how this still resonates with them, this book about children that lived 200 years ago, some odd number of years.

and and how they they just get pulled right into the story, pulled right along with it. Um Yes, I I I think that's been really refreshing for me to see that. that they don't just it's it's not just I mean, it's not just f flashy things right and and exciting things, even sweet stories and and this has extended to other things. We we we've watched other movies and things that

are more say character driven than than plot and excitement and action action. So I I I really like this as just a a character driven type book for for children of that of that age. Yeah. You know, in some ways it reminded me of um I don't know if you when you were a kid y if you've ever read like the Henry Reed books or something like that or or the uh Homer Price books in that they were they it was just like stuff that happened to kids.

And the kids and and again part of that is because the kids are out in the world and they're mingling with adults in a way that the kids today aren't allowed to. Uh, you know, there's this is a there's a kind of a utopian vision here of all That's you're right. generations being able to interact together and respect one another. You know, you you talk about the the elderly are being brought back into this ki the g the activity of the community, but the kids are also taking their place

uh amongst everyone. And at the end of the book it's sort of there's a sort of a a leveling of of ever of everyone there. Um And the kids have a lot of agency and I think that resonates. I mean, my kids are at the age where they're wanting to go around the the block on a walk by themselves. They're wanting to ride their bike to the park by themselves. And so that agency where the kids just go do this thing. They go to the next town. They go

find the wheel. They they get scared by dogs and have to leave. I think that really s speaks volumes to children. As as we know, it might not be particularly realistic, but for for children that age, that sense of freedom and agency really resonates with them.

Nine. Well, the other thing that I loved about reading this was uh I have a copy here and it's one of these old uh library bindings. You know, I I I don't see these anymore. There there was there was a whole uh time there where libraries were the main buyers of children's books and they made uh a special edition uh that was designed to last through uh hundreds of of of readings. And uh, you know, I miss those too.

It was it was pretty pretty nostalgic for me. I I remember reading it and liking it, probably for a lot of the the reasons we identified and then picking up the old copy. I moved a couple of times. I didn't save every last book, but this is one of the few I saved and it was It was very nice to be able to pull out my old copy and and read it to my daughter. I've also given her a couple of old, you know, PS3 games and things, so some things not not quite as ancient, but it was nice to have a tech.

to give her an actual text, a hand-me-down text that she could have. Okay. Well my dog is barking in the other room here, so I think we should probably r w uh wind this down. Um any I I always like to give my guests the last word though, if you have anything you'd like to leave us with. No, thank you so much. This was this was wonderful to talk about, one of my one of my beloved childhood books. So thank you for having me.

Well the next time your kids uh really respond well to a book, you know, just you know, uh you can just uh email me and we'll we'll do an episode in that one. Happy to do so. Thank you, John. Thanks again to guest host Jill Hoffman. If you have an idea for a book, story, poem, or anything else we could read for a future episode, Or if you have a suggestion for a guest host, or if you just want to say hi, you can write me at sophomore.literature at gmail.com.

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