Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates by Mary Mapes Dodge audiobook. Genre: family Mary Mapes Dodge created an instant bestseller with 'Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates.' She wanted the book to be partly a book of travels and partly a domestic story. It is a tale written for children that adults also find interesting and uplifting. Dodge writes as if she is sending a series of letters from Holland to children in America, and her you-are-there perspective is aided by a nice attention to detail and vivid imagery. The Brinkers are a poor but stoic family under a dark cloud - Raff, the man of the house, fell from the dikes while reinforcing them during a bad storm, and for ten years he has been in a vegetative state. With no steady income, the family's lot is grinding poverty. Despite their unfortunate circumstances, Hans and Gretel are cheerful children, yet always attentive to the needs of their mother and their present-but-not-really-there father. Their social standing is very low, but they both attract firm friends, even among the gentry, for their honesty, industry, and good-heartedness. Then a glorious skating race is proposed for the town of Broek, with the prize a pair of silver skates for both the winning boy and girl. In the weeks leading up to the race, we follow the adventures of five of the local boys who are showing a visiting relative from England the sights of the Netherlands. Hans improbably meets the one man who might be able to heal his father, and somehow Hans finds a way to afford some skates so that he and Gretel can enter the race. This all leads up to a dramatic, moving, and entirely satisfactory conclusion. 'Hans Brinker' hits a series of high notes and encourages children to cultivate and display their finer qualities. Chapters (Approximate) (00:00:00) Chapter 1 (00:07:38) Chapter 2 (00:16:54) Chapter 3 (00:36:03) Chapter 4 (00:46:48) Chapter 5 (01:00:34) Chapter 6 (01:15:11) Chapter 7 (01:24:19) Chapter 8 (01:32:26) Chapter 9 (01:44:18) Chapter 10 (02:02:32) Chapter 11 (02:21:56) Chapter 12 (02:38:27) Chapter 13 (02:45:57) Chapter 14 (02:53:21) Chapter 15 (03:04:31) Chapter 16 (03:19:10) Chapter 17 (03:31:21) Chapter 18 (03:41:38) Chapter 19 (03:56:18) Chapter 20 (04:09:16) Chapter 21 (04:23:31) Chapter 22 (04:29:29) Chapter 23 (04:52:56) Chapter 24 (04:59:42) Chapter 25 (05:11:34) Chapter 26 (05:23:34) Chapter 27 (05:29:45) Chapter 28 (05:55:14) Chapter 29 (06:10:03) Chapter 30 (06:23:05) Chapter 31 (06:34:17) Chapter 32 (06:47:32) Chapter 33 (07:00:51) Chapter 34 (07:07:35) Chapter 35 (07:14:28) Chapter 36 (07:23:41) Chapter 37 (07:32:58) Chapter 38 (07:43:14) Chapter 39 (07:50:49) Chapter 40 (08:00:58) Chapter 41 (08:12:00) Chapter 42 (08:28:38) Chapter 43 (08:45:25) Chapter 44 (09:18:42) Chapter 45 (09:34:36) Chapter 46 (09:40:15) Chapter 47 (09:50:52) Chapter 48 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.