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Windmills and wooden shoes cover

Windmills and wooden shoes

Chapter 44: THE MARKET
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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 MARKET

One day Katrina and Jan went to market with Bram and his father. They sailed down the canal on the barge.

The market place was full of noise and busy life.

There were hens and ducks and geese that cackled and quacked and hissed.

There were rows and rows of cheeses, pats of yellow butter, and honeycombs dripping with honey.

There were dog-carts filled with milk-cans, with apples, with potatoes, and other vegetables.

There were Dutch girls selling lace and flowers.

There were bakers with trays full of bread, rolls, and cakes.

Katrina bought a wooden spoon to take home to her mother. Jan bought mother a big yellow bowl.

“Mother will like to stir cake in it,” he said.

“Yes, and she can stir it with this nice, wooden spoon,” said little Katrina.