Windmills and wooden shoes

Chapter 3: IN THE LAND OF WINDMILLS AND WOODEN SHOES

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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.

IN THE LAND OF WINDMILLS AND WOODEN SHOES

O, the wind it is blowing with never a stop,

And the arms of the windmill go “Flip, flop, flop,”

Flip, flop, flop,

And around and round,

Till the water is pumped and the corn is ground.

O, the Dutch wooden shoes go “Klip, klop, klop,”

Toward the windmill that turns with its “Flip, flop, flop,”

Flip, flop, flop,

And around and round,

Till the water is pumped and the corn is ground.

And the little Dutch children with “Klip, klip, klop,”

Run away to the windmill that goes “Flip, flop,”

Flip, flop, flop,

And around and round,

Till the water is pumped and the corn is ground.