Just like the books I mentioned in my earlier post, there are other examples of animals in war. In this American children's book about Holland, Kwik and Kwak (1942) by Oscar Fabres, all figures are ducks, also the German paratroopers who invade Holland.
Kwik and Kwak are living peacefully and happy in the Dutch village of Volendam. Kwak is a fisherman who goes out fishing in his boat every morning and in the evening smokes his pipe by the fireplace. In winter they skate and in the summer they ride their bikes to Amsterdam.
But one day suddenly green ducks are falling from the sky with parachutes. Kwik and Kwak flee in their boat. Soon the boat sinks in a raging storm, but luckily the little ducks are rescued by a big passenger ship.
When this ship is attacked, Kwak becomes a hero by destroying the Nazi submarine.
Oscar Fabres (1894-1960) was a Chilean illustrator and artist. He studied art in Paris and worked there as a cartoonist for 'le Petit Journal'. In 1931 he married the Dutch writer Alice Overduin and settled in Amsterdam. After the German invasion of Holland in 1940 they moved to New York. There he wrote among other things this charming book.
This edition has a nice inscription by Fabres:
To Mr. and Mrs. Ian Kozendall, with our best wishes for Christmas and the New Year, Alice and Oscar Fabres, New York 1942
Kwik and Kwak are living peacefully and happy in the Dutch village of Volendam. Kwak is a fisherman who goes out fishing in his boat every morning and in the evening smokes his pipe by the fireplace. In winter they skate and in the summer they ride their bikes to Amsterdam.
But one day suddenly green ducks are falling from the sky with parachutes. Kwik and Kwak flee in their boat. Soon the boat sinks in a raging storm, but luckily the little ducks are rescued by a big passenger ship.
When this ship is attacked, Kwak becomes a hero by destroying the Nazi submarine.
Oscar Fabres (1894-1960) was a Chilean illustrator and artist. He studied art in Paris and worked there as a cartoonist for 'le Petit Journal'. In 1931 he married the Dutch writer Alice Overduin and settled in Amsterdam. After the German invasion of Holland in 1940 they moved to New York. There he wrote among other things this charming book.
This edition has a nice inscription by Fabres:
To Mr. and Mrs. Ian Kozendall, with our best wishes for Christmas and the New Year, Alice and Oscar Fabres, New York 1942
