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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
Usually I like books that are a bit old fashioned but this one was incredibly boring.
4.5-5 stars. This book is not going to be to everyone's taste, but I like how the author writes- he seems to just know how they think (much as Estes does in her Moffat books). In the Dutch village of Shora, there are 6 school age children - 5 boys and 1 girl - ages unspecified, but it seems likely that they are within 3 years of one another since they view each other as playmates. Lina and the twins "feel" younger than the others and Jella the oldest. It's on Lina's composition about storks that the story pivots. Shora alone among nearby villages lacks storks. Lina wonders why and the teacher poses the question to all of them. Is it lack of trees? Steep roofs? Both? Can they attract storks if they put a wheel on a roof flat side up? Where can they find a wheel? In the course of finding the answers the children learn that old people can be friends, that it's good to work together, and that the scary man isn't so bad after all. I enjoyed reading about a time in a Netherlands before automobiles when a tin man journeyed between villages, when people wore wooden shoes and slept in closets, when roof tiles could blow off and water leak through to form puddles on a child's attic bedroom floor, a time when storks nested on roofs. I'd like to own a copy of this (as well as "Hurry Home, Candy"), but sadly it's out of print. I read this for my 2020 Reading Challenge (Book Bingo "female protagonist" - Lina)and my Newbery Challenge (Award 1955).
I still love this book.
First time I loved it was when my fourth grade teacher read it to our class. This time I read it to my children and they loved it.
DeJong is a gifted writer who has great insight into human nature. The search for the wheels for nests for storks turns into a community event, where the whole town joins the children in their goal of bringing storks to Shora. The people of Shora open up their doors and hearts to the children and the children’s eyes are opened to who the people really are, not just their preconceived ideas and impressions.
As I read this, I have been grieving at what we are losing in our lockdown. We are distancing, losing hospitality, not sharing in griefs and joys in person. We are being told we have to be afraid of each other, the opposite of what happens in this book.
First time I loved it was when my fourth grade teacher read it to our class. This time I read it to my children and they loved it.
DeJong is a gifted writer who has great insight into human nature. The search for the wheels for nests for storks turns into a community event, where the whole town joins the children in their goal of bringing storks to Shora. The people of Shora open up their doors and hearts to the children and the children’s eyes are opened to who the people really are, not just their preconceived ideas and impressions.
As I read this, I have been grieving at what we are losing in our lockdown. We are distancing, losing hospitality, not sharing in griefs and joys in person. We are being told we have to be afraid of each other, the opposite of what happens in this book.
What a joy. I remember starting it several times as a kid, but I guess the action didn't pick up as quickly as I wanted it to back then. It was fun to read a book set in Friesland and see how DeJong adapted some of the Dutch things for the US audience. I am sorry, but something is lost to refer to oliebollen as "fat balls". Literal translation is not always our friend. However, if that's my beef with the book, life is good.
Read aloud for school. A sweet book that captured the kids' imaginations.
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
slow-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
A refreshing change of pace for middle school children - or younger - or older. A teacher in charge of a grand total of six children in a Dutch town mentors them in the lessons of "if it is impossible, it's possible," and "start something - it may lead somewhere." The children decide to do whatever it takes to fulfill their dream of bringing storks back to their little fishing town. Boy, do they do whatever it takes! And boy, does it lead somewhere!
An unexpected surprise: http://newberryproject.blogspot.com/2008/03/wheel-on-school_31.html
I read this a few years back. It is a very nice writing for kids and grownups.
This is truly an odd story. A village in Holland is sad because no storks come to nest in their town. The children and their teacher decide to change things by making a project of it; they will find an old wagon wheel and put it on top of the school for storks to nest in.
Pretty soon, the whole town is involved in the project. Everyone is out looking for wagon wheels. Everyone is figuring out how to put the wheel on the school. Everyone is helping put the wagon wheel on the roof of the school. There are plenty of difficulties in the task, including finding the wagon wheel in the first place. The project creates unexpected side benefits of a strong community spirit and new friendships.
Pretty soon, the whole town is involved in the project. Everyone is out looking for wagon wheels. Everyone is figuring out how to put the wheel on the school. Everyone is helping put the wagon wheel on the roof of the school. There are plenty of difficulties in the task, including finding the wagon wheel in the first place. The project creates unexpected side benefits of a strong community spirit and new friendships.