What is Bartje?
[[Image:Standbeeld-bartje.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Bronze statue of Bartje]] '''Bartje Bartels''' is the main character in a series of [[Dutch language|Dutch]] books written by Anne de Vries at the beginning of the [[20th century]]. The stories are about a boy who grows up in a poor family in the [[countryside]] in [[Drenthe]] in the north-east of the [[Netherlands]]. The author Anne de Vries is male. The name “Anne”, although usually a girl's name, can also be used as a boy’s name in Dutch, especially in the north where [[Frisian language|Frisian]] is spoken. It is pronounced “Oa-ne”. Bartje (pronounce: “BAR-che”) is a boy whose father is a poor [[farmer]]. His parents expect him to become a farmer like his father, but Bartje has other ideas. Bartje starts work as an [[apprentice]], but then his mother dies and he has to look after his younger brothers and sisters. ==Famous quotation== The most famous quotation from the Bartje books come in the story in which the family are sitting down to a meal. They are going to eat brown [[bean]]s. Bartje hates brown beans and pulls his empty plate away when his mother wants to give him some. He refuses to say [[grace (prayer)|grace]] (to say a [[prayer]] to thank [[God]] for the food they are about to eat) and he says: ''Ik bid nie veur bruune boon'n '' (in modern Dutch: ''Ik bid niet voor bruine bonen'', meaning: ''I don’t pray for brown beans''). His parents are shocked and he gets into big trouble. ==Television series== Bartje has become a much-loved [[symbol]] for the province of [[Drenthe]]. The stories were made into a television series which was shown in [[1972]] and repeated in [[2004]]. The film had Dutch subtitles because the actors were speaking in Drenthe [[dialect]]. There is a statue to Bartje in the town of [[Assen]]. Unfortunately it has been vandalized several times. [[Category:Dutch children's books]] [[Category:Characters in written fiction]] [[Category:Buildings and structures in the Netherlands]] [[Category:Dutch television programmes]