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Windmills and wooden shoes cover

Windmills and wooden shoes

Chapter 16: KATRINA’S MOTHER
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About This Book

The narrative follows Dutch siblings Jan and Katrina and their friends as they carry out everyday life in a small Dutch community: chores like milking cows, churning butter, selling milk; play and games; visits to windmills and barges; cultural details such as wooden shoes, storks' nests, blue-and-white dishes, dikes and canals; seasonal events including sleigh rides, St. Nicholas and Christmas; songs and simple illustrated scenes intended for classroom use. Episodes are short and episodic, combining practical descriptions of customs and landscape with domestic scenes to familiarize young readers with Holland's rhythms and material culture.


KATRINA’S MOTHER

The Dutch mother is busy all day. She looks very neat at her work. She wears a blue dress. She wears a stiff white cap. She wears a big brown apron.

Sometimes when it is cool, she wears a pretty red shawl. She has some gold ear-rings.

Katrina says she is going to wear gold ear-rings when she grows up. She thinks her mother’s ear-rings are very pretty.

Katrina’s mother wears wooden shoes, too, but her shoes are much larger than Jan’s or Katrina’s.

Jan’s mother made him a little coat. She made it of blue cloth. She put big brass buttons on it.

Jan likes to count his buttons. He plays a game with them. He makes a wish; and pointing to his buttons, he says, “Yes, no, yes, no.” He pretends the buttons tell him if he will get his wish.

Jan is proud of his fine blue coat.

He wears it when he goes to town.

The mother made Katrina a little stiff cap and a pretty white apron. The apron had lace on it. Katrina’s mother knit the lace.