The Adventures of Nicholas
Helen Siiteri [Siiteri, Helen]On a frozen winter's night in a remote northern fishing village, a young boy
named Nicholas is orphaned when his father is drowned at sea. His mother braves
the raging storm to get medical help for Kati, the younger sister, and leaves
Nicholas to sit by her bedside. When the villagers arrive at the cottage in
morning, he learns that Kati has died of a fever, and his mother is killed by a
falling tree as she passes through the forest.
The fishermen's wives gather to discuss how Nicholas will be cared for, and
decide that if each family takes him in for one year, he will reach an age to
care for himself. So it is that Nicholas moves in with his first
family-for-a-year on Christmas Eve. He hides in a closet and cries himself to
sleep.
The next day, Christmas, is sorrowful for Nicholas but brightened by the company
of the family's children, two girls and especially Otto, who becomes Nicholas'
life-long friend. Nicholas has learned to carve by watching his...