10 /10 1 Votes
Originally published 1954 | 5/5 Bol | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Similar Works by Annie M G Schmidt, Other books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Abeltje is a children's novel by celebrated Dutch author Annie M. G. Schmidt, originally published in 1953 by De Arbeiderspers. It was one of Annie M. G. Schmidt's first children's books, and such an instant success that it was already in its fourth edition when the sequel, De A van Abeltje, came out in 1955. Since 1988, the book has been published by Querido with illustrations by Thé Tjong-Khing.
Contents
Abeltje has been adapted for radio and film. It has been translated from Dutch into Danish, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Japanese, Norwegian, Spanish, and Swedish.
The story of Abeltje has some similarities with the plot of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (1972), in which the main characters also fly around the world in an elevator.
Abeltje van annie m g schmidt
Plot summary
Lift boy Abeltje takes off in his lift. This to the horror of the management of the department store where he works, the other inhabitants of the lift and of course his mother. Soon after the lift flies out of the department store, Abeltje finds out how to steer the lift.
His travelling companions - his classmate Laura, the businessman Mr Tump and singing teacher Miss Klaterhoen - are also embroiled in his adventure.Abel manages to land the lift on a New York parking lot. There Abel sets off to look for work. Millionaire's wife Mrs Cockle-Smith thinks he is her long-lost son Johnny and kidnaps him. Locked up in the luxury penthouse of his 'second' mother, Abeltje finds out that he does bear an uncanny resemblance to Johnny, this makes his next destination clear: he wants to find Johnny. Mr Tump helps Abeltje to escape and immediately after they reach the lift they set off at top speed for Perugona, the spot where Johnny disappeared.
In Perugona their visit happens to coincide with a coup. Our friends end up in the hands of the guerrillas who appoint the vain Mr Tump as President. Everyone knows that Tump is only a puppet, Mr Tump himself is convinced that this career leap is justified confirmation of his personality. Mr Tump's position makes it possible for Abeltje to set off with Laura in search of Johnny.In Holland and New York it has become clear that the lift and its inhabitants are in Perugona and the mothers of Abeltje and Johnny set off to look for their offspring.The exciting hunt for Abeltje has started. The hunt gets even more exciting when Abeltje does indeed manage to find Johnny.
In the end, Abeltje's mother arrives in Perugona and accidentally takes Johnny back in her plane and sets off to Holland. When Mr Tump is then deposed, it's high time for the lift-travellers to set off for the safety of their own home. But the in front of the eyes of Mother Roef, Mrs Cockle Smith and the guerrillas the lift disappears into the volcano Quoquapepapetl.During the memorial service for our four heroes in the department store, the lift pops up in the elevator shaft and everyone is reunited in a happy ending.
Radio
Abeltje was also broadcast in the Netherlands in the 1950s as a radio play. In 2002, Abeltje and the sequel De A van Abeltje were published together in 2002 under the title Abeltje en de A van Abeltje. In 2008, a four-CD audiobook of Abeltje was published, read by Schmidt's zoon Flip van Duyn.
Film
A film of the book, also called Abeltje (English title: The Flying Liftboy), was released in cinemas in late 1998. The film won the Golden Calf for best film in 1999. It was adapted into a seven-part television series that was broadcast in the Netherlands in 2000. The film largely follows the story of the book, although it was modernised in places. For instance, Abeltje has a skateboard and an earring in the film. His neighbour Laura is his girlfriend in the film, and his mother works in a flower shop in the book but owns her own garage in the film. Also, Abeltje accidentally encounters his lookalike Johnny in the book, but in the film he goes sleuthing to find Johnny.