It's back to school for 2019! The class of Judith, a teacher at the Dutch school Bethesda in Maryland in the United States, is about to read the correspondence of the Saint Martin author, Gerard Van Veen.
"It all started when Judith heard about my book" Schoolboy in wartime "when she planned to talk about the Netherlands during WWII in her 6th grade," says Van Veen .
The Dutch teacher who studied the book “Schoolboy in wartime” with her class contacted the author with great enthusiasm, explaining that her students listened to her with the greatest attention! "So she asked the children to write questions in Dutch which I had to answer," says Van Veen. “A student even had 8 questions to ask me! "
When Van Veen had finished writing his answers, the Christmas holidays had already started, so the children had to wait for classes to resume in January to read the author's answers.
"Schoolboy in wartime" is an autobiographical book written in English recounting the childhood of Gerard Van Veen and the experiences of his family during the Second World War (1939 to 1945) in his native Alkmaar during the German occupation of the Netherlands.
"I am happy that Professor Judith and her students at Bethesda Dutch School can discover a different world through the book by Mr Van Veen which was published in Saint-Martin", says Jacqueline Sample, of the publishing house " House of Nehesi Publishers ”(HNP).
Since its launch at the Saint Martin book fair last June, HNP and Van Veen have promoted books on the island and abroad as original reading for adults and children.
Thanks to "Schoolboy in wartime" the elderly can be inspired to tell their own experiences during their childhood while children victims of war, major accidents or natural disasters such as hurricanes Maria and Irma can see that they cannot are not alone! This book also allows children to feel empathy for other children on the island but also for those who are going through hardships around the world, ”said Sample.
Concerning the written exchanges with the students of Maryland, Gerard Van Veen thinks that “the human being is always in search of learning and discovering! "
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