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Windmills and wooden shoes

Chapter 23: THE CUCKOO CLOCK
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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.


THE CUCKOO CLOCK

Jan’s grandmother has a clock. It is a beautiful clock. It is made of carved wood. It is made in the shape of a little house.

There is a door in the house and there are windows.

The weights that hang down look like big acorns.

The numbers on the face of the clock are white.

The hands are white, too.

When it is time for the clock to strike, a little bell rings. The little door flies open. Out pops a dear little white bird. It is a cuckoo. It says “Cuckoo, cuckoo!”

If it is three o’clock, it says “Cuckoo” three times. If it is six o’clock, it says “Cuckoo” six times.

What hour does it say “Cuckoo” the most times? What name do we call that hour in the day-time? When does it say “Cuckoo” only once?

Grandmother winds the cuckoo clock once a week. She winds it every Sunday morning. She winds it just before she goes to church.