They keep them very clean and white. They scrub them every night before they go to bed. Then they are all nice and clean to put on in the morning. You might think that a wooden shoe is heavy. It is not heavier than your own shoe. It is smooth inside. It is as smooth as your own little shoe. It is held on the foot by a leather strap. Some wooden shoes are painted and have patterns on them. Others are scrubbed as white as snow. [Illustration] [Illustration] THE DUTCH FATHER Katrina and Jan get up very early in the morning. Their father and mother get up early too. Their father goes out in his fishing boat. He is gone all day. At sunset, he comes home. Katrina and Jan run to meet him. Sometimes they run on the high dike. They tell their father all that has happened during the day. They are very happy together. [Illustration] THE DUTCH MOTHER Katrina’s mother has some cows. They are black and white. The Dutch mother gets up early in the morning to milk the cows. She puts the milk into shining pans. Then she waits for the cream to rise. She takes the cream and from it she makes butter and cheese. Katrina helps her mother. She churns the butter. Sometimes she puts the cheeses on the shelves. Katrina’s mother makes brown bread and white bread. Katrina likes the brown bread, but Jan likes the white bread best. He likes to eat it with butter and honey. [Illustration] [Illustration] THE BLUE DISHES Katrina’s mother has some pretty dishes. They are blue and white dishes. Katrina has a little plate. Jan has a plate, too. They use their plates at breakfast, dinner, and supper. Katrina likes to wash her mother’s blue and white dishes. She dries them with a little towel. When she dries them, she puts them away in the cupboard. She is very careful. She puts them neatly on the shelves in the cupboard. [Illustration] JAN’S WORK Jan’s mother wants Jan and Katrina to be busy children. She does not want them to play all the time. So Jan drives the black and white cows to the green meadow. At night he goes after them. He tends the geese, too. They have great flocks of geese. Katrina helps Jan watch the geese in the meadow. They are big, white geese. They look like patches of snow on the green meadow. KATRINA’S WORK Katrina’s mother is very kind to her. She gave her some knitting needles one day. She gave her a big ball of red yarn. [Illustration] She showed Katrina how to knit. Katrina learned very fast. Soon she could knit as well as her mother. Her mother showed her how to knit stockings, mittens, lace, and even a hood. Katrina is very proud of her knitting work. [Illustration] KATRINA’S DUCKS Katrina has some ducks of her own. They are big, white ducks. She is fond of her big, white ducks. She takes them to the little pond in the meadow. They like to swim in the pond. Katrina takes her knitting with her. She knits while the ducks swim.