We finished our lunch time read-aloud, Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates today. It was a very apt day to finish it as it snowed 14 inches and counting! Craziness! I don't remember it snowing that much here before. It snowed so much my Honda Pilot even got stuck after we stopped at the top of the driveway-we got in unstuck after some digging out of the snow and putting down sand.
Anyways, Hans Brinker is on the of those books that is a classic, but I'm not sure why. If you are doing a study on Holland it would be a great book as it goes into depth about the country in various places. But, for those of us that just want to read the main story, there is a lot of extraneous information. I ended up skipping big chunks at a time in some parts. The main story about Hans and Gretel was enjoyable...a story of tragedy and triumph...of overcoming odds by hard work and good perspective. The abridged story may be better.
So, although by no means a terrible book to read, it's not one that I would put at the top of my list. It was fun to read though as now is the season of ice-skating and snow. Here is my favorite quote: Luxuries unfit us for returning to hardship that we easily endured before. ---Hans Brinker as he sold his regular skates to provide food and returned to his wooden runners from times previous.
