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Hilda van Stockum was born in Rotterdam, Holland, on February 9, 1908. Her father was a Naval officer and her mother one of the initial proponents of the Montessori educational method. At age five, she wrote and illustrated her first book, making a gift for her younger brother Willem. She studied at the Dublin School of Art, the Amsterdam Academy of Art, and the Corcoran School of Art. In the 1920s, Ms. Van Stockum worked as an illustrator for Browne & Nolan, an Irish publisher. She married her brother’s college roommate, Ervin Ross Marlin, in 1932. He was American and returned with his bride to Washington, DC, where he had a distinguished career with the United Nations and the State Department. She was first published in Ireland, illustrating the Irish Readers, used for teaching Irish after independence and familiar to every Irish student. In 1934, Harper Brothers published Ms. van Stockum’s first American children’s book, A Day on Skates: the Story of a Dutch Picnic. This book contained an introduction by Ms. van Stockum’s aunt, Edna St. Vincent Millay, who was also published by Harper. A Day on Skates received a 1935 Newbery Honor. Harper Brothers did not wish to publish Ms. van Stockum's second book, which found a home with May Massee at Viking Press, who continued to publish Ms. van Stockum's books for years to come. Her children’s books were well-known throughout the ‘30s, ‘40s, and ‘50s. The Cottage at Bantry Bay (1938) and its two sequels were set in Ireland, where the author spent a good share of her childhood. The first of the three books about The Mitchells appeared in 1948. It was based on the lives of her own six children and took place in Washington, DC, and Canada. In the 1960s and '70s, Ms. Van Stockum wrote two books about the Dutch Resistance during World War II: The Winged Watchman and The Borrowed House were widely read. Often illustrating her own books, Ms. van Stockum also illustrated versions of classics such as Hans Brinker, Little Women, and Little Men. In 1993, one of Ms. van Stockum’s still lifes, "Pears in a Copper Pot," was chosen to appear on an Irish postage stamp. From her first published book in 1935 to her last published book in 2001, Ms. van Stockum had a rich and varied career. Her husband of 62 years passed away in 1994. She is survived by her six children and numerous grandchildren. Many of her books are available from Bethlehem Books in North Dakota and on Amazon.com. We lost a light in this children’s book author and illustrator, Hilda Van Stockum when she passed away on November 1, 2006, at the age of 98.
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The Borrowed House
During World War II a young German girl, member of the Hitler Youth, joins her parents in occupied Amsterdam and comes to realize that the war is about more than national pride and destiny; for some it means starvation, separation from loved ones, and gas chambers.
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| Rufus Round and Round Longman Young Books, 1973 ISBN 0582158184 |
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| Penengro Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1972 ISBN 0374357870 Unhappy living with the people who had taken him from a Dublin orphanage, a young boy runs away and joins a group of gypsies. |
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| Mogo's Flute Viking Press, 1966 ISBN 0670484121 The story of Mogo, a little Kikuyu boy who lived in Kenya, East Africa. He was a boy of delicate health, the results of an evil spirit (thahu) befalling him. Everyone felt he was not strong enough to contribute to the work of his tribe. His only strength seemed to be the flute he learned to play like magic. Feeling useless, Mogo visits the Mundo-Mugo to have the spirit lifted. After hearing him play, the Mundo-Mugo tells him that, "Everyone has a thahu. That is life. You must learn to master it." The mundo-mugo presents him with a challenge--Mogo must learn the answer to an important riddle, "What is good to have, better to lose, and best to find again? " Mogo is thrilled and strengthened by the answer he discovers. |
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| New Baby is Lost published in 1963 |
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| Bennie and the New Baby published in 1963 |
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| Jeremy Bear published in 1963 |
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The Winged Watchman 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. ALA Notable Book |
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| Little Old Bear published in 1962 A discarded old teddy bear is tossed about in a ball game, thrown over a garden wall, and finally rescued by an elderly woman whose grandson adopts him. |
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| Friendly Gables Bethlehem Books, 1996, ISBN 1883937191 Viking Press, 1960, ISBN 067033037X 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 unsuccefully, to keep out of mischief. This is the last book in this series. |
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| King Oberon's Forest illustrated by daughter Brigid Marlin Viking Press, 1957 Junior Literary Guild Selection |
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| Patsy and the Pup Viking Press, 1950 |
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| Canadian Summer Bethlehem Books, 1996, ISBN 1883937140 Viking Press, 1948 When their father takes a job in Montreal, the six Mitchell children experience a variety of adventures living in a ski hut, the only house the family could find. |
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| The Mitchells: Five for Victory Bethlehem Books, 1996, ISBN 1883937051 Viking Press, 1945 Follows the adventures of the five Mitchell children living with their mother and grandmother in Washington D.C. while their father is away fighting in World War II. |
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| Gerrit and the Organ E.M. Hale & Co., 1944 Viking Press, 1943 |
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| Andries Bethlehem Books, 1998, ISBN 1883937361 Viking Press, 1942 Ten-year-old Andries, newly orphaned, comes to join his bachelor uncle in a large, but silent and unhappy house. Across the way sits a cottage, overflowing with the lively Dykstra family. When Andries vents his loneliness in mischief, the cook, and soon the whole village, is scandalized. Then Andries makes acquaintance with the warm-hearted Dykstras. Adventures unfold as Andries' energetic and creative bent finds new inspirations. |
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| Pegeen Bethlehem Books, 1996, ISBN 1883937205 Viking Press, 1941 When her grandmother dies, orphaned Pegeen finds a temporary home with the O'Sullivan family and dreads the inevitable day when she must go to live with her uncle in America. Companion volume to Cottage at Bantry Bay. |
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| Kersti and St. Nicholas Viking Press, 1940 Kersti, the seventh and naughtiest daughter of the van Disselens, influences even Saint Nicholas and his faithful helper Pieterbass into leaving gifts for the bad children on the Saint's birthday. |
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| Francie on the Run Bethlehem Books, 1997, ISBN 1883937132 Viking Press, 1939 Dutch storyteller Hilda Van Stockum called Francie O'Sullivan her favorite character. He's a spunky little Irish boy with the qualities of Jack the Giant Killer and the boy David. Homesick for his family at Bantry Bay, Francie decides to leave the hospital where he is being treated for his lame foot and walk home even though he's not altogether sure of how to get there. Companion volume to Cottage at Bantry Bay. |
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| Cottage at Bantry Bay Bethlehem Books, 1995, ISBN 188393706X Viking Press, 1938 Chronicles the adventures of the four O'Sullivan children living with their family in the south of Ireland by the shores of Bantry Bay. |
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| A Day on Skates: the Story of a Dutch Picnic Ignatius Press (60th Anniversary edition), ISBN 1883937027 Harper & Brothers, 1934 The story of a day in Holland when the water freezes and there is ice on the canals. 1935 Newbery Honor |
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