Abeltje
A children's novel about a flying elevator.
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Here is the rewritten encyclopedia entry: Abeltje is a children's book by the well-known Dutch writer Annie M. G. Schmidt. It first came out in 1953 through De Arbeiderspers. This was one of Schmidt's earliest works for children, and it did so well that by the time its follow-up, De A van Abeltje, appeared in 1955, the original was already in its fourth printing. Since 1988, the publisher Querido has handled the book, using artwork by Thé Tjong-Khing.
The story has been turned into both a radio play and a film. Translations exist in Danish, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Japanese, Norwegian, Spanish, and Swedish. The plot shares certain features with Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (1972), where characters also travel the world in a flying lift. A young boy named Abeltje takes a job running the lift in a department store.
Plot
His boss strictly warns him never to press the top green button. When Abeltje finds himself in trouble, he pushes it anyway, and the elevator shoots out of the building and takes flight. Trapped inside with him are a traveling mothball seller named Jozias Tump, a singing teacher called Miss Klaterhoen, and a girl named Laura. They fly across the ocean, landing in New York City's Central Park.
There, Abeltje is mistaken for a missing boy. The group then heads to South America, where Tump becomes president of a banana republic, and the missing boy is freed. A coup forces them to escape once more in their lift. In the Netherlands during the 1950s, Abeltje aired as a radio play.
Film Adaptation
In 2002, the original book and its sequel were released together as Abeltje en de A van Abeltje. An audiobook version on four CDs came out in 2008, read by Schmidt's son, Flip van Duyn. A movie version, also called Abeltje (released in English as The Flying Liftboy), came out from Warner Bros. on November 26, 1998. It won the Golden Calf for best film in 1999.
The movie was later edited into a seven-part TV series broadcast in the Netherlands in 2000. While it mostly follows the book, some updates were made: Abeltje now has a skateboard and an earring, his neighbor Laura is his girlfriend, and his mother runs a garage instead of a flower shop. In the book, Abeltje runs into his lookalike Johnny by accident, but in the film, he actively searches for him.
Publication & Early Triumph
Abeltje arrived in 1953 as one of the earliest children's novels from the pen of Annie M. G. Schmidt, the already celebrated Dutch writer. De Arbeiderspers handled the initial release, and the book's reception was nothing short of meteoric. By the time the sequel, De A van Abeltje, hit shelves in 1955, the original was already on its fourth printing—a remarkable pace that signaled the story had struck a deep chord with young Dutch readers and their families.
The novel's publishing life continued to evolve over the decades. In 1988, the rights transferred to Querido, a house that has kept the title in print ever since. That edition also brought a new visual identity, with the distinctive illustrations of Thé Tjong-Khing giving Abeltje and his airborne companions a fresh, memorable look. The book's trajectory from a first-try children's effort to a long-running, multi-edition classic speaks to the universal appeal of Schmidt's whimsical storytelling.
The Story & Its Characters
At its heart, Abeltje is a tale of a young boy who takes a job as a liftboy in a department store. His employer lays down one iron rule: the topmost, green button on the elevator panel must never be pressed. Naturally, when Abeltje finds himself in a jam, he gives in to temptation and hits the button. The elevator rockets out of the building and into the sky, carrying four passengers: Abeltje himself, a traveling mothball salesman named Jozias Tump, a singing instructor called Miss Klaterhoen, and a young girl named Laura.
Their airborne journey takes them across the ocean to New York City, where they crash-land in Central Park and Abeltje is mistaken for a missing boy. The group then flies on to South America, where Tump is improbably installed as president of a banana republic and the missing boy is set free. But a coup quickly topples Tump, and the four friends must once again flee in their runaway lift.
Adaptations Across Media
Abeltje has a remarkably rich afterlife beyond the printed page. As early as the 1950s, the story was brought to Dutch ears as a radio play, introducing the flying elevator to a new generation of listeners. Nearly five decades later, Warner Bros. produced a feature film titled Abeltje (released in English-speaking markets as The Flying Liftboy) on November 26, 1998. The movie, which modernized certain details—giving Abeltje a skateboard and an earring, making Laura his girlfriend rather than a neighbor, and turning his mother's flower shop into a garage—went on to win the Golden Calf for best film in 1999.
Its success spawned a seven-part television series broadcast in the Netherlands in 2000. In the audio world, a four-CD audiobook narrated by Schmidt's own son, Flip van Duyn, was released in 2008, while a combined 2002 edition paired Abeltje with its sequel under the title Abeltje en de A van Abeltje.
International Reach & Literary Echoes
The story of Abeltje has traveled far beyond the Dutch-speaking world. Translations exist in Danish, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Japanese, Norwegian, Spanish, and Swedish, making the flying liftboy a familiar character to children on multiple continents. The novel's global footprint is a testament to the universality of Schmidt's premise: a child's small act of defiance launching an extraordinary, globe-trotting adventure. Interestingly, the plot shares a striking structural echo with Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, published in 1972.
In Dahl's novel, the central characters also find themselves hurtling around the world inside an elevator. The parallel is hard to miss, and it places Abeltje in a small but notable lineage of children's literature in which a humble vertical transport becomes the vehicle for a grand, almost surreal journey. Whether Schmidt's 1953 original inspired later writers or both authors simply tapped into the same imaginative wellspring, the elevator-as-airship remains one of children's fiction's most charming conceits.
More in Fantasy novels adapted into films
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Abeltje (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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