What is Dik Trom?
[[Image:Dik Trom Marktplein Hoofddorp.jpeg|thumb|260px|right|Statue (2006) of Dik Trom riding a donkey, Marktplein (Market Square), Hoofddorp,]] '''Dik Trom''' is the main character in a series of five children’s books written in the [[Dutch language]]. The author, [[Cornelis Johannes Kieviet|C.Joh. Kieviet]] wrote the first book in [[1891]]. It was called “Uit het leven van Dik Trom” (“From the life of Dik Trom”). The books became extremely popular and they continue to be very popular today, more than 100 years after they were written. ==The Life of Dik Trom== Dik Trom was a naughty boy who got up to lots of tricks with his friends. However, he is a very honest boy and he is very kind, so the readers like him. Dik Trom lived in the village of Hoofddorp in the Harlemmermeer in the north of [[Holland]]. This is the village where the author grew up, so he was setting the stories in his own village, and based a lot of the characters on real people he had known. Dik’s real name was “Dirk”. This is a common Dutch name. Dirk was very fat, even as a boy, so he soon became known as “Dik” (the Dutch word “dik” means “fat”). The word “trom” means “drum” so his name really means “Fat Drum”. Dik’s parents love him very much, but they are no good at disciplining him. When he does something naughty his father just says: “‘t is toch een bijzonder kind - dat is-ie” (“he’s a really special child, that he is”). Dik is always brave, he is never a coward. His friends want to go and annoy a little old lady, but Dik persuades them to go and annoy the village [[policeman]], and he has a leading role in that adventure. Another adventure tells how Dik said he could ride a donkey without falling off. The donkey belonged to the village [[merchant]], and it was a stubborn beast that always tried to throw off its riders. Dik managed to stay on by sitting backwards on the donkey and holding on to its tail. This is how Dik is usually seen in pictures, and there is a statue of him in the village of Hoofddorp which shows him