Children's Literature: The Netherlands


Figure 1.--This Dutch book was for boys (10-14 years). The title is De Klompeniers by Jac. Broersen. The undertitle: "A book from and for Dutch boys". Again no date, but I think it is from around 1936. The word "klompenier" is kind of made-up. The story is about boys who belong to a soccer club that started when they were still wearing wooden shoes. They got an emblem in the form of a "klomp" (wooden shoe). I do not know who the illustrator was.

We have only limited information on Dutch children's literature. We do have some information about well known Dutch boy characters in literature. There were several important Dutch authors of children's books. Dutch children, however, read many books from other countries, understanadable in a small country surrounded by much larger countries. Interestingly, English-language authors appear to have been more popular than German-language books. A Dutch reader tells us, "I myself loved to read Karl May's books on American Indians ("Winnetou", "Old Shatterhand". etc.).. They were very popular with Dutch boys when I grew up, along with the adventure books by the French author Jules Verne. We also read Mark Twain!"

Authors

There were lots of wonderful children's books by Dutch authors. A Dutch reader tells us, "First of all the Dik Trom series by Johan Kieviet. Dik Trom was an overweight farm boy on wooden shoes. He was very smart , but also naughty. A very likable character. Another hero that time was "Pietje Bell" by Chris van Abcoude. He was really naughty and always got into trouble. We adored him. Other writers were W. G. van der Hulst and later Annie M. Schmidt."

Themes

A popular theme for boys' books in the Netherlands, as is the case in may countries, is sports. Unlike England, the Dutch sports books are not almost entirely a part of school stories. Most commonly the Dutch sports stories deal with football (soccer). One Dutch book even mixed together wooden shoes and soccer--a very Dutch story (figure 1). Adventure stories were another popular theme for boys' books. Other themes include animals, fantasy stories, history tales, mysteries, and a variety of other topics.

Dutch Boy Characters

We do have some information about well known Dutch boy characters in literature. There were several important Dutch authors of children's books. The obvious Dutch boy character, at least to American and English readers, is Hans Brickle. The Dutch writer Piet Prins authored many novels for young people in the 1950s-1970's having boy heros. One which has been translated into English is the story of a 13 year old boy in Holland during World War II who helped the Dutch Resistance hide downed RAF fliers from the NAZIs. In one scene, the author describes the hero as wearing shorts like all the other boys his age, "since the honor of receiving their first pair of long pants is accorded to boys on their 14th birthday." A populat book about a Dutch boy was "Ciske de Rat". Another popular boyhood account is Erich Kästners Als ich ein kleiner Junge war.

Types of Children's Literature

We do not know of any publications like The Boys' Own Paper in England. Nor do we know of Annuals. A Dutch reader tells us, "As far as magazines for children are concerned, I don't remember any. I know that the Dutch boy scouts had a periodical, "De Verkenner" and perhaps there existed some other papers as well. We did not subscribe to any." Children in very religious families before World War II were not allowed to read everything. They could read Dik Trom, but not Pietje Bell. They always had a stack of "Kinderbijbels" (children's bibles) to make them happy. The illustrations often were beautiful.

Gender

It is interesting to observe that in the 1930s and 40s there always was a strict separation between boys and girls in reference to reading material. There were "Meisjesboeken" (girls' books) and "Jongensboeken" (boys' books). A Dutch reader tells us, "Boys would not read any girls' books, but often girls were reading boys' books, because they claimed that they were more exciting. There was a popular author of girls' books, Cissy van Marxveldt; boring stuff! No boy would ever touch it. My sister had a whole shelve full though."

Foreign Literature

Dutch children, however, read many books from other countries, understanadable in a small country surrounded by much larger countries. Interestingly, English-language authors appear to have been more popular than German-language books, although the most popular single author was probably a German--Karl May. This is not to say that Dutch children were able to read their favorite books in foreign languages. That was (and is) not the case. Although the Dutch are famous for their linguistic skills, the children's books are nearly always in the Dutch language. Foreign authors are translated.
American: Dutch boys also read Mark Twain! A Dutch reader reports, "I read both Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, in Dutch of course. I enjoyed these books very much, although I did not grasp what Mark Twain wanted to say about that boy Jim being black. I myself did not know any black people at that time. Later at another school I got to know some part-Indonesian kids. I also read Uncle Tom's Cabin and I was very moved by it. The Dutch title of the book was: De Negerhut van Oom Tom, which is kind of funny, as if the translator wanted to make clear from the start that Uncle Tom was a black man. One book we had never heard of was "Hans Brinker and the silver scates", an American story about a Dutch boy who safed the country by putting his finger in the dike". It is in teresting that the book about the Netherlands perhaps best known to American and English readers was not well known to Dutch children.
French: The most popular French author in the 1930s and 40s was Jules Verne. His science fiction and adventure stories appealed to boys.
German: The most popular one was Karl May, a German, when I grew up. That did not matter at that time, because Karl May wrote about exciting places as the American West with Indian chiefs like Winnetou and Old Shatterhand. He also wrote about Albania and the Near East. Pure fiction, because he had never left Germany. . A Dutch reader tells us, "I myself in the late 1930s and early 40s loved to read Karl May's books on American Indians ("Winnetou", "Old Shatterhand". etc.). They were very popular with Dutch boys when I grew up. Erich Kästner was a popular German author, although his books were banned by the NAZIs. His most famous book was "Emil and the detectives".
Other countries: A Durch reader reports, "I also read "Pinocchio" as a child and "Don Quijote" (Don Kisjot) and of course Grimm's fairy tales.

lIllustrators

Two of the best Dutch illustrators especially of children's books were: Cornelis Jetses and David Abraham Bueno de Mesquita (1889-1962). Dutch people used to grow up with reading books illustrated by Jetses. They always were delightful and at the same time very artistic. Jetses also created wall posters for the schools. Bueno de Mesquita was of Spanish-Jewish descent. I remember that many of my favorite books (for young boys) were illustrated by him. He also was a great artist. H. (Henriette) W. Willebeek Le Mair drew evocative drawings for children's books in the early-20th century. This interesting artist drew children with tremendous flair an imagination. Rien Poortvliet was another great Dutch illustrator, but he did not make many drawings with children in them.

Age Levels

It was customary by the 1930s to mention the ages of boys and girls in Dutch children's books. I'm not sure precisely when that plractice baegan. The next page after the title page of "De Klompeniers", for example, mentions: "Voor jongens van 10-14 jaar" ("For boys from 10-14 years"). A Dutch reader writes, "At that time parents were able to check what literature was suitable for their kids. But, of course, sometimes we got hold of "naughty stuff" we were not supposed to have, although in general teenagers were more innocent than now. There was no television or x-rated movies."

Personal Comments

A Dutch reader tells us, "As soon as I learned the alphabet as a child I started reading. Mostly books, but also the newspaper and magazines were not safe for me. I really enjoyed reading. I pitty young children who's only stimulation (or shall I call it stupidification?) is the TV."






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Created: January 15, 2003
Last updated: 5:41 PM 8/10/2009