This acclaimed story of World War II is rich in suspense, characterization, plot, and spiritual truth. Every element of occupied Holland is united in a story of courage and hope: a hidden Jewish child, an underdiver, a downed RAF pilot, an imaginative, daring underground hero, and the small things of family life which surprisingly carry on in the midst of oppression.

Ten-year-old Andries, newly orphaned, comes to join his bachelor uncle, Pieter Verbeek, in a large, but silent and unhappy house. Across the way sits a cottage, overflowing with the lively Dykstra family. While Father Dykstra works as a wooden-shoemaker, Mother Dykstra oversees the household of four children.

In the first of three books about their adventures, Daddy has just gone off to World War II. One of his final words to his daughter Joan is, "No dogs!" She would dearly love such a pet, but life is full and so many new friends - pets as well as people - join the Mitchells, so she hardly has time to think about dogs. The children form a club to do their part for the war-effort - first and foremost helping Mother, of course.

Dutch-American storyteller Hilda Van Stockum provides us with another episode in the life of the Mitchell family, this time taking on life as it comes in a truly unforgettable Canadian summer.

Elizabeth Ann is being carefully brought up by her Aunt Frances. Aunt Frances shares in all Elizabeth Ann's fears and slights, walks her to and from school each day, and conscientiously follows the most modern theories on child-rearing. She is the original helicopter parent. Not surprisingly, at nine years old Elizabeth Ann is timid and shy, friendless, and completely dependent on her doting aunt. Then an emergency occurs, and the fearful little girl is temporarily sent to other relatives who live on a farm in Vermont.