Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates

Mary Mapes Dodge (January 26, 1831 – August 21, 1905) was an American children's writer and editor. Mary was born in New York City. She acquired a good education under private tutors. In 1859 she began writing and editing, working with her father to publish two magazines. Within a few years she had great success with a collection of short stories, The Irvington Stories.

The novel «Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates» takes place in the Netherlands and is a colorful fictional portrait of early 19th-century Dutch life. Poor 15-year-old Hans Brinker and his sister Gretel yearn to participate in December's great ice skating race. They have little chance of doing well on their handmade wooden skates, but the prospect of the race and the prize of the silver skates fires their dreams.