Each college story continues with the history of the Oxford University college, its head of house, and up-to-date comparison of the recent performance of students in examinations and in college rowing competition (Summer Eights).
Here is a book that can inspire a young person to visit Oxford or apply to study there. Many programs offer several weeks at Oxford in the summer, or a one-year certificate, as well as the traditional undergraduate and advanced degrees.
This book is a great gift for a high school student with an interest in history and literature, or a college student thinking about summer academic programs or graduate school. Or a parent thinking about the future of a grandchild or nephew/niece.
It's a better guide to Oxford than a GPS – for one thing, you need to know what is behind the college gates to decide which one you want to go in to see!
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Or give a book by Hilda van Stockum this year. Click on a title in blue below to order from Amazon
For Kids - books by Hilda van Stockum -
Little Old Bear – About an old bear that was blind and thrown away. An elderly lady sews new eyes on the bear so he can see again, and he see boys and girls having fun. He wishes one of them would be his friend. And then...!!! For kids and their grandparents.
Patsy and the Pup – A puppy follows a little girl in Ireland home. She is told she will have to bring the puppy back to the owner. She does this, and has many adventures. She wishes she could have a puppy like this. Another surprise ending, making for a happy little girl and a happy puppy.
Kersti and St. Nicholas – This book was written in 1940, the year that Hitler's troops invaded and occupied Holland. While not about the occupation (which is the subject of two other famed books by van Stockum, The Winged Watchman and The Borrowed House), it's about a girl who persuades St Nicholas to be merciful to the naughty boys and girls because they need love.
King Oberon's Forest – A book recommended by Eleanor Roosevelt (a letter from her is reprinted by permission of her estate). It is about challenges to a forest kingdom posed by progress. Illustrations by Brigid Marlin.
For Teens - books by Hilda van Stockum
Penengro – This is the story of a boy who leaves home and becomes part of a Roma caravan in Ireland. Hilda van Stockum tries to help us understand the life of the Roma, who are outcasts in Ireland. There is a love story between Rory and a Roma girl, carefully told and resolved.
Memoirs and Inspirational Books
To Africa with a Dream, by Olga Marlin, daughter of HvS. Olga tells of her life as an educator of young women in Kenya. She went to Kenya with two other young European women with a dream, at a time when European teachers were leaving Kenya because of the Mau Mau drive for independence. Olga became a Kenyan citizen and is still there. This is her story. (She has also written the story of the parents of one of her co-workers in Kenya.)
A Meaning for Danny, by Brigid Marlin, daughter of HvS. Brigid tells the story of Danny, a boy with both epilepsy and autism. The remedies for one aggravated the symptoms of the other. Brigid seeks meaning for the sadness of Danny's story.
The Box House, by Brigid Marlin, daughter of HvS. This is Brigid's touching story about a neglected girl in England who seeks to replace the mother they never had and provide a home for her young siblings.
Science Fiction
Time Bomber, by Robert Wack, is based on the life of Willem van Stockum, Hilda van Stockum's brilliant brother. A mathematics lecturer at the University of Maryland, Willem volunteered for the RAF as a bomber pilot, having spent many months training pilots in navigation. He flew a Halifax with a crew of six others during the week of D-Day. He knew the lousy odds against his coming home from the war. He is buried in France, shot down on June 10, 1944. Robert Wack puts Willem's story into a sci-fi framework to get across the decisions that Willem had to make.
Science Fiction
Time Bomber, by Robert Wack, is based on the life of Willem van Stockum, Hilda van Stockum's brilliant brother. A mathematics lecturer at the University of Maryland, Willem volunteered for the RAF as a bomber pilot, having spent many months training pilots in navigation. He flew a Halifax with a crew of six others during the week of D-Day. He knew the lousy odds against his coming home from the war. He is buried in France, shot down on June 10, 1944. Robert Wack puts Willem's story into a sci-fi framework to get across the decisions that Willem had to make.
