New Releases by Hilda van Stockum

First published in 1957, King Oberon''s Forest is a fairy tale written by Dutch author Hilda van Stockum. It tells the story of three brother dwarves, renowned for their bad temper and unfriendliness, whose lives become completely changed after finding and taking in a foundling child. The book has a magical quality and reveals a different side of van Stockum. King Oberon''s Forest is a wise and witty tale full of adventure. Illustrated throughout by Ms. van Stockum''s daughter, Brigid Marlin, an accomplished artist and writer.

This is an exciting story set in Ireland in which an orphan, Rory, is adopted by a couple because he resembles their dead son. He runs away to escape from this uncomfortable situation, and meets and then lives with a group of gypsies. This book was close to the heart of the author, my late grandmother, Hilda van Stockum, as she always sympathized with the outsiders in life. She was also close to nature and had a distrust of machinery, traits shared by the Romanies she wrote about.

For use in teaching literature to high school students.

In the 1940s, ten-year-old Dutch boy Andries, recently orphaned, goes to live with his strict bachelor uncle in a large country house, ultimately finding companionship and adventure with four lively neighbor children.

This book, written in 1938, offers a vivid picture of an Ireland that has all but disappeared. The O''Sullivan family invite the reader to share their many homely adventures. Michael and Brigid brave the wilds and gypsies on an errand for their injured father and come home with a new friend; twins Liam and Francie keep everyone hopping; Mother and Father draw the family together with story-telling, warmth and humor. Then Michael and Brigid find a treasure which changes the course of things for all. Illustrated by the author.

Young Francie O''Sullivan, from the Irish family we first met in The Cottage at Bantry Bay has had a successful operation in a Dublin hospital, but longs to return to his beloved family in County Cork. He heads out the hospital door, no permission asked, and finds a train-won''t any train do? Francie finds himself making a speedy tour (in the opposite direction from home) around the Emerald Isle, a journey full of adventure, laughter, and endearing friendships for Francie and the reader. Illustrated by the author.

It is two years after the events in Canadian Summer. The Mitchells are settled in their new home, Friendly Gables—and twins have just been added to the family. With Mother recovering from the births and with other changes in the household, the children must come to terms with themselves in new ways. Joan’s first dance; Patsy loses her glasses; Peter’s disastrous fight; Angela’s misadventure in the woods; Timmy’s “good news”; and Catherine’s brush with fire —are only a few of the incidents in the life of this busy, growing family. With her usual humor and compassion, the author brings the Mitchell “trilogy” to a satisfying close. Illustrated by the author. 3rd book in the Mitchells Series

The large and growing Mitchell family, transferring their location to Montreal, can’t find a house to buy or rent. They settle, over Mother’s protests, for a remote, rickety summer house in the woods near a lake. The dangers, antics, quarrels, and fun which now unroll bring each member of the family into vivid characterization. Meanwhile we meet some delightful French Canadians and taste the special qualities of rural Quebec in the late 1940’s. Illustrated by the author.

During the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, ten-year-old Joris and his older brother Dirk Jan become involved in the resistance movement and, with the help of their parents, help conceal a British airman.

This is the 60th anniversary edition of the children''s classic, A Day on Skates, a story of what happens in the winter in Holland when there is ice on the canals. Vividly illustrated.

The continuing adventures of the six Mitchell children now living at Friendly Gables, their house in the Montreal suburbs, as they welcome twin brothers, make new friends, and try, often unsuccessfully, to keep out of mischief.