Nienke van Hichtum (1860–1939)

An old woman decides that she would like to bake an apple cake in this charming picture-book, originally published in Dutch as Het appeltulbandje, but finds that she is missing the apples that she needs in order to do so. Setting out with a basket of ripe plums, she engages in a series of trades with her neighbors - plums for feathers, feathers for flowers, flowers for a golden chain, a golden chain for a puppy, and (at last!) the puppy for some apples - guided each time by her kind heart, and a desire to do right by others. As the woman concludes that evening, whilst enjoying her well-earned treat: "As long as you do your best and don't lose heart then it's not at all difficult to get an apple cake for your supper."

Nienke van Hichtum, whose real name was Sjoukje Maria Diderika Troelstra-Bokma de Boer, was a late nineteenth and early twentieth-century Frisian Dutch children's author best known for her heart-warming family stories, including the still beloved Afke's Tiental. The Nienke van Hichtum Award, which is named in her honor, is a biennial Dutch children's book prize administered by the city of The Hague. Unfortunately, this picture-book, put out by Edinburgh-based Floris Books in 1996, is, to the best of my knowledge, the only one of her stories to be made available in English. I'm not sure when it was originally published, or how it first appeared - as part of a story collection, or on its own - but this presentation of it is just lovely. The narrative itself, which follows a common folkloric theme involving a series of trades, is sweetly engaging. I particularly liked the old woman's running monologue to herself, and her reflections about the people she meets along her journey. When she gives away the golden chain, observing: "never let it be said that I enjoyed a nice apple cake while my neighbour went hungry," I wanted to cheer! The artwork, done by Marjan Van Zeyl, is just as appealing, with a gorgeously vivid palette and a wonderful impressionistic quality to it. There's even an apple cake recipe on the back cover!

All in all, The Apple Cake is a definite winner! I hope more of Nienke van Hichtum's work is made available to English-language speakers.… (meer)