Kindle
$0.99
Available instantly
Audible Logo Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial
Hardcover
$28.95
Paperback
$14.87
Buy used:
$14.87
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime
FREE delivery Friday, May 17 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35. Order within 18 hrs 32 mins
Used: Very Good | Details
Sold by Jenson Books Inc
Fulfilled by Amazon
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comment: Nice clean copy with no highlighting or writing. We take pride in our accurate descriptions. Satisfaction Guaranteed.

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a service we offer sellers that lets them store their products in Amazon's fulfillment centers, and we directly pack, ship, and provide customer service for these products. Something we hope you'll especially enjoy: FBA items qualify for FREE Shipping and Amazon Prime.

If you're a seller, Fulfillment by Amazon can help you grow your business. Learn more about the program.

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the authors

Mary Mapes Dodge
+ Follow
Kathryn Lindskoog
+ Follow
See all
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates (Complete and Unabridged) Paperback – December 15, 1993

by Mary Mapes Dodge (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 162 ratings
See all formats and editions

From glistening ice roads to frozen canals, in a wonderland where even the richest nobles thrill to the gliding joys of winter, everyone is awaiting the fabulous race to win the magnificent Silver Skates --

Except Hans Brinker and his sister Gretel. For the Brinkers are desperately poor, friendless; with a father felled by a crippling head wound, Mother and the children must battle simply to survive. And while Hans and Gretel are strong, fast, disciplined, and loyal...on hand-crafted wooden skates, they can't complete against trained rich kids with fine steel blades...

But sometimes...sometimes...good people are given a chance. Sometimes strangers do care. And sometimes a family's love and loyalty can struggle against even the cruelest twists of fate...

Sometimes...

Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. Reading age
    9 years and up
  2. Print length
    256 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Grade level
    7 - 9
  5. Lexile measure
    960L
  6. Dimensions
    4 x 0.75 x 6.5 inches
  7. Publisher
    A Tor Classic
  8. Publication date
    December 15, 1993
  9. ISBN-10
    0812533429
  10. ISBN-13
    978-0812533422
  11. See all details
Next page
Layla
"Layla" by Colleen Hoover for $7.19
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover comes a novel that explores life after tragedy and the enduring spirit of love. | Learn more

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mary Elizabeth Mapes Dodge was born in New York in 1831. Her Grandmother was Dutch, and Mary Elizabeth grew up in the center of a strong and properous family. She died in 1905 after a long illness but Hans Brinker lives on.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ A Tor Classic; First Thus edition (December 15, 1993)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0812533429
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0812533422
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 9 years and up
  • Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 960L
  • Grade level ‏ : ‎ 7 - 9
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 4.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4 x 0.75 x 6.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 162 ratings

About the authors

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Previous page
  1. Mary Mapes Dodge

    Mary Mapes Dodge

    Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

    See more on the author's page
  2. Kathryn Lindskoog

    Kathryn Lindskoog

    Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Kathryn Ann "Kay" Lindskoog nee Stillwell (December 26, 1934 – October 21, 2003) was a C. S. Lewis scholar known partly for her theory that some works attributed to Lewis are forgeries, including The Dark Tower.

    Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

    See more on the author's page
Next page

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
162 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Kathleen Flynn
5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic to be sure !
Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2020
Verified Purchase
I began this book before my trip to Holland and finished it when I returned just to prolong the enjoyment of such a delightful story.
I found Amsterdam to be such a charming and colorful city. This book, set in the late 1800s, brought Holland alive with its characters, dialogue, scenery, visualizations and storyline. It is right up there with The Secret Garden !
4 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Caroline
5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Book
Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2014
Verified Purchase
What I liked about the book was that it was chancy, and that it gave people hope.

I recommend that everyone should read it, especially Hollanders and people who want to learn about Holland.

I choose 5 stars because this book is one that held us and pulled us in. Also, there is a lot more to the book than just winning the Silver Skates.
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Cas Ash
4.0 out of 5 stars Hans Brinker. The Silver skates is about the Brinker family as they look for solutions to their problems.
Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2016
Hans Brinker. The Silver skates is about the Brinker family as they look for a doctor to cure Raff Brinker (Han's and Gretel Brinker's father) And to win a competition for a pair of silver skates. The book has a wide range of adventures and many do not envolve the Brinkers in the direct area but are kept in mind, the book is set in Holland (the Dutch are very over-proud of themselves and believe that if someone is to be educated they go to Holland) and the majority of the book is spent on the frozen dykes and rivers. The character are hard to keep track of and they have extremely long names, it is hard therefore to keep track of them. The book itself is well written and has very good shows of characters, the book is a good book and on of the the few that I did not fly through in a day or two. All ages could and hopefully would enjoy it (the book is not one that is very easy to read as the words can be hard however, the book is not hard to read) any gender has the same chance to enjoy the book. It covers parts of Dutch culture as well. I liked reading it however I would not read again as it would not be as new, therefore I would get the book from a library first before buying.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Esther Cox
5.0 out of 5 stars Chilhood Favorite
Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2013
Verified Purchase
I bought it for my sister who always liked this story and wanted to read it again. She also wanted to share it with some of her friends. She was very happy to receive this copy which was in very good condition. Thank you.
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Gift
Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2013
Verified Purchase
This was a gift and arrived just in time for Christmas. We gave it to our grandson so that he could enjoy the same book his grandfather read as a child.
Helpful
 Report
Laura Bethany Thomas
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2016
Verified Purchase
can't wait to read this with my grandkid who are learning to skate
Helpful
 Report
Virginia L
5.0 out of 5 stars really liked it as a youngster
Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2016
Verified Purchase
Second time reading, really liked it as a youngster, enjoyed it again at +70!
8 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
R. M. Fisher
3.0 out of 5 stars "On With Your Skates!"
Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2010
First published in 1865, "Hans Brinker" (or alternatively: "The Silver Skates;" probably the better title) is something of a classic - one that you've probably never heard of before. Extensively drawing on the culture and history of the Netherlands for her story, Mary Mapes Dodge tells a rather sentimental and moralistic tale about the virtue and suffering of the hardworking Brinker family.

One reader's treasure is another reader's bile, and depending on how you feel about old-fashioned values, reverence for the innate purity and integrity of the poor, a hefty amount of moralizing and a rather Dickensian use of coincidence, you'll either feel moved or irritated by "Hans Brinker". Think  Little Women : in Holland, including the warm humanity, but minus the sense of humour.

Ten years prior to the beginning of the story, Raff Brinker fell off a dyke and was severely brain-damaged, leaving behind a wife and two children to care for him in a run-down hut that is soon known as "the idiot's cottage". Shunned by most of their neighbours, the Brinker family struggle to make ends meet due to that fact that none of them have the slightest idea where Raff concealed their life savings. Fifteen year old Hans has prematurely become the man of the house, sacrificing his school work in the attempt to look for work, whilst his little sister Gretel continually worries that she cannot love her father as a daughter should; nursing her pointless guilt in a way that only 19th century females of literature know how.

A further mystery in the household is the watch that Raff entrusted to his wife before his accident. Not knowing where it came from or who it belongs to, the family keeps it safe despite their need for the money it would earn them. Yet the most pressing concern in both children's minds is the upcoming ice-skating race to be held between all the children in the attempt to win a pair of beautiful silver skates. Torn between duty to their family and the desire to own the skates, Hans and Gretel are left to make the right decisions in a very difficult situation - and it could be a chance meeting that turns the tables on their fortunes.

The children are sympathetic enough and their plight certainly tear-inducing, though your enjoyment of the tale probably depends on how cynical you are while reading it. Like most Victorian stories, it is heavy on moralizing, sentimentality, and appropriate comeuppance for its various characters - but then of course, this is a given considering the period in which it was written. To be honest, it's difficult imagining any but the most thoughtful child readers of today getting much out of "Hans Brinker," for although it's obviously still in print, it doesn't quite carry the same weight as other like-minded stories such as  Little Women , Black Beauty , and  A Little Princess .

There is a very strange plotting decision made about halfway through the story, in which a chapter ends with the Brinkers hearing a scream coming from their cottage. But the reader is left hanging at this point so that Dodge can abruptly turn her attention to an ice-skating expedition held by a separate group of children. Reading almost like a travelogue of the countryside, it's interesting on its own merits, with plenty of insight into the history and geography of Holland, but has virtually nothing to do with the plot-line of the Brinkers. Readers will be excused from flipping ahead a few pages in order to see what that scream was all about, and though I'm not usually one for abridged copies, in this case a version that cuts out extraneous chapters may well help the book's success with newer readers.

Other aspects are more successful, such as the inclusion of an English boy in order to get a more familiar point of view on what is (for most readers) a foreign country, and the retellings of such famous customs and stories such as Saint Nicolas and the boy who stuck his finger in the damn, which as it turned out, was originally more of an heroic tale than a cautionary one.

My copy of the book was translated by Nora Kramer - editions may vary, but an interesting aspect of my particular text is that several words remain in Dutch, such as the use of "mynheer" and "vrouw" when addressing people. Likewise is the linguistic tendency to add a "the" to the noun when referring to one's parents; that is, calling them "the father" and "the mother." It adds to the texture of this "ode to Holland," complete with vivid descriptions on exactly what you'd expect from a book set in this particular country: bright tulips, turning windmills and rivers of glistening frozen ice.

Depending on what version you have, "Hans Brinker" is a slow-going but ultimately worthwhile book that ensures the characters rely just as much on hard-work and unselfish decisions as they do on lucky coincidence - or as the Brinkers would believe; Providence.
9 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
Good Romances Reader
5.0 out of 5 stars Hans Brinker or the silver skates
Reviewed in Italy on January 26, 2024
Verified Purchase
Is this a book for young people only? I wouldn't say so. It is the story, the culture, the art, habits and customs in Holland, of this tenacious people tied to its traditions, who find itself to live on a land 2 meters below sea level. The story unfolds during a trip of 6 characters, on ice skates going, between Amsterdam, Harlem, The Hague, etc. Of course, there is a folkloristico race to win "the silver skates"
and the story of Hans and Gretel family, to make the novel more enjoyable and compelling.
Report
Bruno Murk
5.0 out of 5 stars Arrived
Reviewed in Germany on January 18, 2024
Verified Purchase
Amerikaner sehen das so richtig
Report
busy housewife
5.0 out of 5 stars Read Hans Brinker - you'll love it!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 1, 2014
Verified Purchase
It is an excellent book, the characters are excellently portrayed, the story line is riveting and the descriptions of Holland at the time portrayed make fascinating reading. I love it and have read it several times, it never palls.
3 people found this helpful
 Report
Edward Elly
4.0 out of 5 stars A Classic
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 12, 2020
Verified Purchase
An engaging read for ages 8-12 that has entertained youth around the world for over a century.
One person found this helpful
 Report