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  • Location: Zichem

Whitey

Whitey

Why a Booktrail?

Mischief is Whitey’s middle name,.

  • ISBN: 978-9028451216
  • Translator: Charles Dowsett
  • Genre: Childrens

What you need to know before your trail

A low forehead, small brown, restless eyes, a thin face and large ears: that’s Whitey. Mischief is his middle name, it’s in his blood and he just can’t help himself: his pranks have been executed even before he realizes doing so. This classic book by Ernest Claes contains a series of costly, sometimes grim anecdotes about a boy growing up in the Flemish countryside of the early twentieth century, an environment where poverty and toil have made people hard, and children usually feel misunderstood

Travel Guide

Welcome to Zichem

A classic of Flemish literature by Ernest Claes set in his native Flemish Brabant village of Zichem. As well as a good story about a young boy always getting into trouble, this is also an autobiographical account of the author’s childhood.

A wonderful insight into social life in a small Flemish town at the end of the 19th century and early 20th century.

All this takes place near Zichem, on the border of Kempen and Hageland, the native village of the writer.
With Whitey Ernest Claes has apparently discovered the secret of eternal youth. The book was made into a movie several times (in 1934 by Jan Vander Heyden, in 1980 again by Robbe de Hert) and more than 125 times reprinted. It made Claes one of the most widely read and translated Flemish writers.

BookTrail Boarding Pass: Whitey

Destination:  Zichem  Author/guide: Ernest Claes  Departure Time: 1960s

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