AloneAgainNaturally I read Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates by Mary Mapes Dodge as an adult. While Hans' story is charming, Ms. Dodge had the unfortunate structure of interspersing a chapter of Hans' story followed by a chapter of Dutch history. I believe her intention was to make Dutch history accessible to youngsters, but she did not integrate the story and the history very well. Disney did a good job of taking out the "boring bits" while preserving the fictional story of Hans Brinker. Disney was able to beautifully integrate a little of Dutch history and culture without it being a thinly disguised history lesson. I like history, and I liked Dodge's book- but I did not particularly like how she wrote her story. The film is charming and uses a complete Dutch cast, which does much to lend an air of authenticity to the movie. The production was so well done, I was surprised to learn Brinker was a television film and not a theater release. It is a lovely little story about a lovely little family.