Chosen as a Newbery Honor Book in 1935 - the other titles to be so honored that year include Elizabeth Seeger's Pageant of Chinese History and Constance Rourke's Davy Crocket, while the medal winner was Monica Shannon's Dobry - this delightful tale opens one cold January morning in the small Dutch village of Elst, in the province of Friesland. Nine-year-old twin siblings Evert and Afke had been longing for snow, and their wish had been granted in the night. The delights didn't end there however, as they soon learned at school, where Teacher informed them that he had permission to take the entire class on an all-day skating trip to the nearby town of Snaek. The day itself provided an entertaining series of experiences and adventures, from drinking hot cocoa at one of the booths set up along the canals, to seeing a real artist at work, painting a winter scene. When Evert fell through the ice, shy Simon came to his rescue, winning the admiration of all. But it was only when he joined Evert, Jan and Okke in their misadventure in the church bell tower, once the class had arrived in Snaek, that he truly cemented his friendship with the more popular Evert. After much excitement, the class finds its way back to Elst, having spent a joyful day on skates...

Published in 1934, A Day on Skates: The Story of a Dutch Picnic was author/artist Hilda van Stockum's very first book, and was based upon her childhood in the Netherlands. The edition I read was a Bethlehem Books reprint from 2007, and it included a brief introduction from van Stockum, written in 1994 for an earlier reprint. I was glad to read this introduction, which provided a brief bit of background to the writing of the story and the creation of the artwork, but was also glad that the original foreword, written by poet Edna St. Vincent Millay, the aunt-in-law of van Stockum, was reproduced on the back cover, so that I could read that as well. The story itself is simply delightful, full of incident and fun, but utterly lacking "drama," in the contemporary social conflict sense. The artwork, whether the lines drawings sprinkled throughout, or the full-color plates, was utterly charming, and added to my reading pleasure immeasurably. I never encountered this one as a child, and I now regret it, as I think it would have been a favorite. It reminded me (inevitably) of Hans Brinker; or, The Silver Skates, given the setting and theme, but it has been so many years since I read the latter that I am not sure how it compares. Perhaps I'll have to track it down, and reread it, in order to see. I will certainly need to track down more from van Stockum, and that is surely a ringing endorsement!

Although formatted like a picture-book, A Day on Skates: The Story of a Dutch Picnic is actually a heavily illustrated chapter-book, suitable to children with the attention span for longer stories, and for youngsters getting going with longer fiction. Wholeheartedly recommended! ( )

Yes, cute enough. However, utterly predictable, simple story of children who are having too much fun to stay completely safe, hence the thin plot of a series of adventures. On the other hand, for its time, probably a special book. As Edna St. Vincent Millay says her introduction, thank goodness it's not a syrupy moral fable, featuring dull... tiresome... Miss Good [and] Master Naughty." The children are good, but not unbearably so. And the sexism is awful, but apt for the time." ( )

Newbery Medal runner-up 1935

This beautiful new edition of Hilda Van Stockum's little masterpiece was an exciting development in our household. You see, we missed the original Bethlehem Books run of this favorite title and ended up with an old copy from eBay with cracked and brittle pages. We still loved it of course.

A Day on Skates is a simple story of a Dutch brother and sister who go on a skating picnic with their teacher and classmates for a whole day. For modern children, the setting and events open up the imagination to far away times and places. There are humorous episodes and simple lessons in humanity present in the story. The writing is lovely and engaging. The pen-and-ink illustrations and occasional full-page color paintings are a perfect complement to the story.

A particular strength of her writing is her sympathetic view of the human condition. Here is a perfect example from the story:

Every Dutch boy and girl loves to skate, and every Dutch man and woman, too. And no wonder. Holland with its canals and streams has many miles of ice when the cold at last arrives. Both Evert and Afke had learned to skate when they were very small. Indeed, Afke had been only three when she first tottered on pigmy skates, carefully held up by her father. By now she had become quite an expert, and Evert was even better. He had won several prizes in his school's skating tournaments. One of the prizes had been a beautiful book called Robinson Crusoe, which he had read so often that the cover had come off. Another time he won a silver pencil, which he gave to Afke, and the last time it had been a book entitled Good Henry, the story of a boy who was always good. This he had promptly traded for a penknife.

We bring this book out again and again, particularly on chilly winter days. Although the text is a bit longer than your average picture book, it's broken up into chapters. We tend to read a chapter at a time spread out throughout a day.

This would make a lovely gift for children of all ages. ( )