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The Greatest Skating Race: A World War II Story from the Netherlands

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"You're a strong skater, Piet, and you have a quick mind. This is why I know you'll succeed in this important task. I wouldn't ask you to do this if I didn't know it could be done."

In 1941 Piet, a young Dutch boy from Sluis, gets the assignment of a lifetime: He must skate along the frozen canals of the Netherlands and across the Belgian border, in order to guide two neighborhood children to their aunt's house in Brugge, where the children will remain for the duration of World War II. Their father has been taken by German soldiers, and the children are no longer safe in Sluis -- but the journey with Piet, past soldiers and enemies, is fraught with danger.

Along the treacherous path to Belgium the three children skate using every bit of speed, courage, and strength they can muster. All the time they try to appear like innocent schoolchildren simply out for a skate, for if the German soldiers discover their escape plan, the children will be in grave trouble. During the journey Piet thinks about his hero, Pim Mulier -- the first person to ever skate the Elfstedentocht, the famous and prestigious Eleven Towns Race that takes place in his country. For years Piet has dreamed of proving that he is a skater as brave and strong as Pim Mulier -- but he had never imagined that his test would fall under such dangerous circumstances.

Louise Borden's moving text captures all the tension, excitement, and fear that comes with Piet's mission, while Niki Daly's evocative illustrations bring the children and their perilous journey into vivid focus.

48 pages, Hardcover

First published September 28, 2004

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About the author

Louise Borden

35 books47 followers
There were already two Louises in my family when I was born: my mother and my grandmother, Nana, who lived with us when I was growing up. So early on, I was given the name Leezie. This is a name that my family still calls me. Years later, my niece was born and also named Louise. Then there were four of us with the same name! Louise is a fine name to have except that people often spell it incorrectly. Sometimes my mail is addressed to Louisa, or Louisie, or Lewis, or Lois. Leezie is also tough for people to spell. Names and their pronunciations have always interested me, so writing about a teacher named Mrs. Kempczinski was a natural thing for me to do.

I grew up in a house at the top of a steep street in Cincinnati, Ohio, the kind of street that is a big challenge when you are pedaling uphill on your bicycle. My two sisters and I used to ride our bikes down, down our street, and then to the local dimestore to buy candy bars or meet up with our friends. But coming home, we had to pedal up our long hill. (This was before mountain bikes!) Pedaling slowly up my street may be where I learned perseverance, something all writers need when they are working alone at their desks.

Writing picture books came much later—after studying history in college, getting married, and raising three children. Even though I didn't grow up to be a composer, I like to think that my picture books are almost songs because the sound of words and the poetry of my style are so important in the texts that I write. I work very hard at my desk, revising and revising and revising, trying to find just the right words that will be beautiful or fun to read.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews
Profile Image for Darla.
4,858 reviews1,251 followers
November 26, 2022
"This is what it means to be Dutch."
my mother told my sister, Nel, and me
on nights when the sound of German boots
on the cobblestones rang in our ears.
"Not only to love skating on our canals
but also to be brave in our hearts."


Piet Janssen is a 12-year-old Dutch boy living in Sluis (rhymes with "voice")in 1941. He admires the famous Dutch skater, Pim Mulier, who skated the 200 km Elfstedentocht or Eleven Towns Race in the record time of 12 hours and 55 minutes in 1890. When a young boy and girl need to be smuggled out of Sluis to live with their Belgian aunt, Piet is chosen to skate with them using the canals to hide in plain sight. This picture book has gorgeous illustrations to support the text in verse. Although Piet would later skate the Elfstedentocht as an adult with excellent times, this day on the ice with Johanna and Joop Winkelman was his greatest skating race.
Profile Image for Luisa Knight.
3,224 reviews1,221 followers
August 20, 2018
What an incredible book; and it's based on a true story! Your children will learn about the Netherlands during World War II, the Netherlands' famous skating race and one boy's act of bravery to help two children escape from the Germans. Fantastic!

Ages: 6 - 12

Note: Parents, this is a lengthier picture book so may take 20 -25 minutes to read.

**Like my reviews? I also have hundreds of detailed reports that I offer too. These reports give a complete break-down of everything in the book, so you'll know just how clean it is or isn't. I also have Clean Guides (downloadable PDFs) which enable you to clean up your book before reading it! Visit my website: The Book Radar.
Profile Image for Alex  Baugh.
1,955 reviews128 followers
February 28, 2013
When I was a girl, I used to love ice skating in Central Park, either on the pond if it were frozen enough or the skating rink. There was nothing like the feeling of gliding across the ice on a cold winter's day. So when I saw The Greatest Skating Race by Louise Borden sitting on a bookshelf, I knew I just had to read it.

Written in free verse, the story is set in the Netherlands in December 1941. Ten-year-old Piet Janssen was born to ice skate. His father's family had made and repaired ice skates for many generations, and Piet is looking forward to the time he is old enough to skate in the Elfstedentoct just like his hero , Pim Mulier. Mulier has skated the 200 kilometer/124 miles race in record-breaking time in a bitter cold December, much like Holland was experiencing in 1941.

But Holland is under German occupation and although there is no restriction on skating, there just are much of the need supplies left for Piet's grandfather to make or repair skates. In fact, there isn't much of anything left after the Germans took what needed. But for Christmas, Piet receives a little red notebook. In it, he begins to plan and train for his entry in the Elfstedentoct...someday.

The Janssens are kind people and help others whenever they can, especially during the bitter cold winters that Europe has been experiencing since the war began. One Friday, when Piet comes home from school, excited to show his mother his perfect spelling test, he learns that the father of a school mate has been arrested for possessing a radio and sending messages to the Allies. It is decided that his children, Johanna and her little brother Joop Winkelman, need to get away to safety.

Which means that Piet, Johanna and Joop would skate the frozen canals to Brugge, Belgium, a distance of 16 kilometers/10 miles past German checkpoints all along the way, a long distance for two 10 year olds and one 7 year old after a day at school.

And so the three skaters begin their journey. They don't get far before they run into their first German sentries, who stop them and become very suspicious when they see the Elfstedentoct map Piet had drawn in his red notebook for training purposes. A nice border map, one guard says. Finally the other guard recognizes the name of the race. The children are allowed to go on, but can they fool every sentry at every guard house they will have to pass and arrive safely in Brugge or be caught and arrested? And even if they get by the guards, can little Joop complete the arduous journey?

The Greatest Skating Race was such an exciting story and so well told that I had to keep checking the spine of the library book I was reading to remind myself that it is fiction. And although this is technically a picture book, it is really designed for middle grade readers. It is an engaging and beautifully written story that demonstrates the bravery and courage of children caught up in a war and their understanding of just how serious things were. An exciting story, it really captures the fear and tension that people experienced living under Nazi occupation continually felt.

The illustrations by Niki Daly, which are done in colored pencil, ballpoint pen and watercolor with digital enhancement, beautifully convey the freezing winter weather, the beauty of the country and the fear, the determination and even the innocence of the children in cold wintry tones.

The Elfstedenstoct is a real race that can only be done if the ice in the canals along the 11 city route are all frozen to 15cm. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like a race will be held in 2013 and in fact there hasn't been one since 1997.

Pim Mulier (1865-1954), Piet's skating hero, did indeed complete the Elfstedentoct just as it is described in The Greatest Skating Race.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was borrowed from The Bank Street College of Education library
Profile Image for Elaine.
611 reviews65 followers
January 31, 2012
A longer picture book (44 pages) that tells the story of a young Dutch boy who escorted two siblings across the Holland/Belgium border during World War II. This is a great story of bravery and using the gifts God has given you to help others. In this boy's case, he was a strong skater, quick thinker, and good leader.
Profile Image for Tatiana.
839 reviews61 followers
June 24, 2017
10-year-old Piet, a young Dutch boy, is enamored with Pim Mulier—the original skater of the Elfstedentocht, literally the Eleven Towns Race, a prestigious outdoor skating competition in the Netherlands. In 1941, Piet is assigned to accompany two children to their aunt’s house in Brugge, Belgium. To get there, they must carefully skate the frozen canals of the Netherlands and across the Belgian border, for if the Germans discover their escape plan, the children could be in danger for their lives. With bravery, Piet undertakes what might perhaps be the greatest skating race of all.

I enjoyed this story because it was set in an often overlooked location in Europe during the war; while historical fiction, it was based in real events; the illustrations are antique-looking and evocative of chilly, dangerous nights; and at 44 pages, it is longer than the average picture book, more in-depth.

Especially appreciated were the historical and background information at the end. It would be very easy to expand this book into a cross-curricular unit (kids could create their own race map, measure the distance from each point, etc.). Recommended for grades 3-5.
Profile Image for Brenda.
778 reviews10 followers
February 12, 2023
Because ALL of my relatives immigrated from Friesland, this is an especially wonderful story for me & my family. We have been to the most of the 11 towns of the race and have Dutch cousins who live very neat Dokkum. My own Father learned to skate in those canals at the age of 3 and my uncle won a race there. It’s also a true story of a very brave boy & two little friends.

I would give it more than 5 stars.
Profile Image for Matt Hickey.
Author 1 book5 followers
December 8, 2021
I've been looking for non-religious books to add to a winter display at my library and I noticed this book was a Texas Bluebonnet award winner. As I read it in my office I said to my coworkers, "Ohh. That's why it's the greatest skating race. These Danish children are skating from nazis!" And they asked me why I would read such a depressing thing at Christmas time. I could blame it on the same personality malfunction that makes me find horror stories cathartic year round, but my response was "Well, Christmas is the longest darkest time of year." The same conditions that make it a time of plenty for some make it a time of strife and cold for others. To ignore that would make the holiday a gross indulgence in my opinion. But then again maybe I read "The Little Matchstick Girl" too early. This story has a much happier ending than that and will also teach you about the Elfstedentocht, the "Eleven Towns Race" between ice skaters in Holland, Pim Mulier it's first champion, and what a child experienced in Sluis, 1941 as the German soldiers threatened his neighbors and what he did to save them.
Profile Image for Willow.
1,318 reviews22 followers
May 4, 2019
Between the covers of this picture book lies hidden a lengthy story of courage. The kids listened, spell-bound, as we spent almost an entire half-hour reading this.

I love picture books like this. So good for getting a feel for a place, and a time. So much to learn from it. I loved the pictures, too!
Profile Image for Sarah Wilson.
879 reviews4 followers
February 22, 2025
Loosely based on a true WWII story, this is SUCH a good book. It’s a longer read, so either a read aloud or late elementary/early middle school reading level… highly recommend.
Profile Image for Libby Hill.
739 reviews8 followers
January 15, 2026
Based on true events, this picture book tells the story of a young boy in the Netherlands who skates across various canals through his country to Belgium to save the children of a family in his neighborhood.

A great accompanying picture book to “Snow Treasure” or “Number the Stars”, this serves as a shorter read with lush illustrations that can help introduce some history on the lives of children who lived in Europe through WWII.

All three of my kids (ages 9, 7, and 5) were invested in this and we all finished with peaked curiosity in the Netherlands and ice skating.
Profile Image for SaraKat.
1,977 reviews38 followers
December 27, 2024
An interesting WWII story about a place I've not read much about. The race was fun to learn about, though it seems it is going extinct due to climate change. :( Piet's bravery and cleverness was inspiring and it shows that every single small act of help is heroic when arrest or death is a possibility.
Profile Image for CH13_Kieran.
30 reviews
February 28, 2013
I loved this book! It is a wonderful story that is very befitting of children and yet very intensely and dangerously set in German-occupied Holland during WWII. Young Piet loves skating. It is in his blood. His father and grandfather are skate-makers in a country that skates away its cold winters. Piet wants to grow up to be a great skater in the Elfstedentocht; a 200 kilometer skate along the canals of the great Dutch towns. Little did he know that he would soon have to skate a race much more important to save his young friends.

This book offers so much innocence in a setting so rife with despair and fear. The courage of this young boy and his two companions is breathtaking and powerful. This is a great book to use when showing young people ages 9 and up that bravery and belief in one's self can take someone a long way. Also, it is a great book for anyone who loves to skate!
Profile Image for Amy.
1,189 reviews
October 7, 2017
I went into this thinking it to be more true than it was so that clouded my opinion of it. There are so many details in the story to make it seem accurate but they just made me feel duped. There is nothing wrong with that in the field of historical fiction, but again, for some reason, I wasn't reading it as pure fiction.
Profile Image for Victoria Dimmitt.
173 reviews3 followers
January 29, 2012
Amazing book! It shows how young children who are surrounded by the horrors of WWII learn to face their fears and skate to safety. This book is a great book to read to children to get them interested in history. The pictures are amazing!
2,065 reviews19 followers
March 30, 2015
Wonderful book about the courage of three children during WWII.
Profile Image for Katherine Szerdy.
159 reviews4 followers
October 20, 2023
THE GREATEST SKATING RACE by Louise Borden
The darling illustrations are what initially drew me to this children’s picture book about a very brave ten-year-old Dutch boy in 1941 who is called upon to help two young Jewish neighbors escape the Nazi’s. He uses the example of Pim Mulier, his skating hero, as his inspiration as he is asked to take the children and skate their way to their aunt’s home in Belgium. The story is a true tale of the children’s heroic journey under threat of Nazi occupation and harsh winter weather conditions! Though it is a picture book beautifully told in free verse, the story is not for small children. I highly recommend this book for children fourth grade through adult. It would be a wonderful addition to any unit on World War II and/or the Holocaust. Additional themes and concepts for classroom use include conflict, man vs nature (weather as antagonist), the journey, courage, history of ice skating, child hero. I rate it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Profile Image for Naomi.
851 reviews8 followers
January 28, 2021
I read this book before bed and I dreamed I was having to deal with officers and prove myself worthy and just all sorts of exciting and somewhat scary things, but I was brave and I made it. Dream inspired by Piet and Pim. I didn't know ANYTHING about this race, and I've never ice skated and I loved it. I loved the whole thing, from the way it was written to the illustrations to the explanations of how to pronounce the city names to the old-tyme feel and historic based-on-true feel of it. I am so glad our library challenge asked us to read a book about winter sports and my daughter picked this one out. She read it, then my son, and then I. I congratulated her on a great pick and I told my mom about it too. I learned a lot, and it was a wonderful adventure, like I said. I too have a notebook for a thing or two in life, and I carry it around with me, so I liked that bit as well!
7 reviews
January 17, 2025
During WWII Piet tried to to what Pim Mulier did and Pim Mulier ice skated around Holland from the one canal that connected eleven cities. And then Piet did it with his friends and there were Germans that were guarding the place so they had to act like they were brother and sister. They ice skated and they did it. They were going from one city where they lived to another city in the different country that they ice skated to. Then they stopped and he said 'How about you try spelling a word' which was Pim. They ice skated along, they saw other people ice skating and then there was couple German people with a car, they hid under the bridge until the German car left over the bridge then they kept going and they made it. Then they ice skated back, just Piet and a bookseller and then they went back home and the bookseller had a bunch of books and the books were really heavy.
Profile Image for Cheryl.
13k reviews484 followers
Read
June 5, 2019
No, it's not free verse as one reviewer says, it's just that the paragraphs are separated by line breaks instead of indents. No, it's not historical fiction, except by the very loosest definition. WWII was real, skating on the canals is real, Pim M. and the Elfstedentocht are real. But the most important bit, a ten year old boy guiding two younger children to Belgium via the ice, is fiction and implausible.

But I'm only nitpicking because I can't determine how I feel about the story. I think that I liked it ok....
Profile Image for Jenny Hartfelder.
421 reviews10 followers
March 16, 2021
My 6yo: I loved it and I liked how it was about skating. I liked how he was very brave and made the right decision.

My 10yo: I liked it. I liked how they talked about skating and how they could go over 100 miles on 12 hours. I wouldn't have thought that was possible.

Mom: A wonderful story of courage and bravery with lots of information about the history of skating in the Netherlands. This story is a bit long as far as picture books go, but well worth the read. The illustrations are lovely. Provides opportunity for gently introducing WWII.

#passportaroundtheworld #netherlands
Profile Image for Alana.
1,930 reviews50 followers
March 19, 2022
So much to love about this book. There's lots of educational material, without being overwhelming, including guides to pronounce words and names. Lots of history. Mostly, it's a good suspense-type story for children featuring doing what's right even when it's dangerous or scary, and using your talents to help others. It tells the story without being too scary for young ones, but doesn't sugarcoat it either. A very positive story overall. A little long for a bedtime story, but a good book for sure.
Profile Image for Steve.
13 reviews3 followers
February 3, 2018
This is a very strong personal story of the kinds of things children had to do in WWII. It's not such a grueling story as to be inappropriate for kids, but it is dramatic. It's a story with a lot of skating lore and culture built into the background, and a more personal perspective on history than you would get from a book giving a broad historical overview.
194 reviews
May 10, 2019
"That winter, and in the three hard winters that followed, my grandfather and mother often helped others who were in trouble---those who needed food or money or the trust of a friend. Many people in Sluis knew that thee Janssen family was brave in this way."

"This is what it means to be Dutch."

Oh, I need more stories like this: stories that give hope that I too could be brave and kind.
Profile Image for Rebecca.
191 reviews11 followers
September 16, 2022
A wonderful historical fiction picture book; it reads more than a picture book for sure, yet the pictures and chosen font are done so well as they match the story. A story that can inspire other children to choose bravery even when it's hard.
Profile Image for Sharon.
302 reviews
February 23, 2018
Naomi "discovered" this book on the shelf! It was a most serendipitous find; we loved it!
1,451 reviews11 followers
April 24, 2018
Don’t let the fact that this is a picture book fool you into thinking it’s a story for little kids. This is a true story that appeals to all ages.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews

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