The Winged Watchman
By Hilda Van Stockum
Book Guide copyright 2026 by K. A. Stinson. Feel free to use it in your home, classroom, book club, or homeschool!
This historical fiction page-turner is set in the Netherlands in 1944 -1945 during the Nazi occupation. Joris and his family live in a windmill and do important and dangerous work for the Dutch Resistance. You will love this exciting and inspiring story!
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IDEAS FOR BRINGING THE WINGED WATCHMAN ALIVE
IMPORTANT: Readers will get much more out of The Winged Watchmen if they start out with a basic understanding of World War II in general and the Dutch Resistance in particular. I urge you to check out numbers 1 and 2 below BEFORE reading The Winged Watchman.
1. I painstakingly distilled the necessary historical information into less than 4 minutes of kid-friendly video footage. It is embedded in the historical fiction movie Wartime Secrets. Click here Wartime Secrets Full Movie and watch from 1:25 to 5:18. The young boys posing as a panel of experts may make you chuckle, but the information is correct. If this video clip is too basic for you, try #2 below.
2. I highly recommend the website of the Verzetsmuseum, a museum in Amsterdam about the Dutch Resistance. Here are links to the website home page and to the specific page about the exact time period of The Winged Watchman.
3. For handy reference as you read, here’s the bare minimum basic information about WWII in Europe:
In 1933 the evil dictator Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party took control of Germany. World War II began in September 1939 when the German Nazis invaded Poland. The Nazis took over the Netherlands (also known as Holland) in May 1940. They took over many other European countries as well. The Winged Watchman story begins in early summer 1944. June 6, 1944 was D-Day when the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe began. The Allies continued to take Europe back from the Nazis until May 7, 1945 when the Nazis finally surrendered. May 8, 1945 was celebrated as Victory in Europe Day.
4. Here’s something you might enjoy before or after reading The Winged Watchman. My family and friends found the Dutch Resistance so interesting that we made a series of 3 historical fiction movies about it. I wrote the scripts and directed with input from the kids. (We did a LOT of research!) The kids did all the camera work and editing with input from me. Perhaps watching these could inspire your kids/students to make a history-based movie.
Wartime Secrets (24 minutes) (youtube says 30 but it’s only 24) Wartime Secrets Full Movie
If I Were in the Resistance (36 minutes) If I Were in the Resistance Full Movie
War, Peace, and Chocolate (41 minutes) War Peace And Chocolate
5. Here’s a handy list of the main characters in The Winged Watchman in case your kids need help keeping track of the Dutch names:
The Verhagen Family:
Joris (age 10) PRONOUNCED YORIS. (The letter J is pronounced as Y in Dutch.)
Dirk Jan (age 14) PRONOUNCED DIRK YAN
Trixie (age 3)
Mr. Verhagen (a miller)
Mrs. Verhagen
Freya (their dog)
Uncle Cor (Mrs. Verhagen’s brother)
The Watchman is the name of the windmill where their family lives
The Schenderhans Family
Hendrick (age 10)
Leendert (age 18)
Mr. Schenderhans (a farmer who also sells things on the black market)
Mrs. Schenderhans
Nero (their dog)
6. Just so you know: In the Netherlands in the 19th and 20th centuries, it was customary to have a white person in blackface makeup portray the character of Pieterbas, aka Swarte Piet, who is St. Nicholas’ helper in Dutch Christmas lore. Fortunately, this custom is falling out of favor today. However, it comes up in Chapter 12 of The Winged Watchman when the Verhagen family celebrates St. Nicholas Day and the blackface makeup serves as a disguise for a resistance worker. No racist comments are made, and I got the impression that the characters in the story were so used to this custom that they didn’t even stop to think about its racist roots. I personally used this as an opportunity to teach my kids/students about the history of racism and how we can do better today. Here’s an article if you want more information: Zwarte Piet | History, Controversy, Blackface, St. Nicholas, Tradition, & Facts | Britannica
7. In this book guide, the discussion questions and background information are combined. The background information and links to applicable websites are highlighted in yellow and placed at the beginning of the discussion questions for the chapter in which they occur. So, even if you aren’t planning to use the discussion questions, scroll down and check out the information/links before reading each chapter.
COMBINED DISCUSSION QUESTIONS AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT THE WINGED WATCHMAN
Chapter 1
*Windmills or electric pumps are used to pump water out of the land in parts of the Netherlands. Without them, everything would be flooded.
*A landwatcher was a Dutch traitor who helped out the Nazis by reporting Dutch people who broke the Nazi rules.
1. How does Joris get Freya?
2. What is Leendert Schenderhans’ new job?
3. What does Hendrick think about the old windmill known as the Giant?
Chapter 2
*Der Fuehrer means the Leader in German. This term was used to refer to the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.
*Mr. Schenderhans makes a lot of money selling things on the “black market.” That means he sells things secretly without permission from the government. He would be in big trouble if the Nazis found out about this.
*The German Wehrmacht means the German military.
1. Mother loves to pray for her family and friends. Who else does Father say she should pray for?
2. Explain what happens between Leendert and the girl on the bike (Reina).
3. What is in Reina’s satchel?
Chapter 3
*A “Tommy” is a British soldier or aviator
*Watch this two-minute video to learn how a windmill works
1. What happens to one of the British bombers?
2. How many parachutes do the boys see?
3. Why does Joris decide that although Hendrik is a nice boy, he can’t be trusted?
Chapter 4
*A pressbed is a bed that is enclosed on 3 sides and has cupboard-like doors or a curtain to close it. Here are some images of pressbeds:
1. What happens to Mr. Poot and Ernst?
2. Describe the Giant.
3. Whom does Joris find in the Giant?
Chapter 5
*Reich is the German word for empire. In this chapter it refers to the Third Reich, Hitler’s German empire.
*The Underground is another word for the Resistance.
1. Why does Joris have a hard time getting food to bring to Charles King?
2. Describe the great hoax played on the Germans by the Underground under the leadership of Kees Kip.
3. How did Trixie become part of Joris’ family?
Chapter 6
1. When does Joris bring food to Charles?
2. Who else shows up at the Giant?
3. What else does Charles want the boys to bring him besides more food?
Chapter 7
*Radio Orange was an illegal Dutch radio station that operated secretly to give people accurate information. (The Germans did not tell the true news on their radio stations.)
*Catholics go to confession to confess their sins to a priest. Then the priest assigns them a certain number of specific prayers to say. These prayers are called penance.
1. What important information does Hendrik accidentally reveal to Leendert?
2. What kind of clothes does Reina suggest the boys get for Charles?
3. When the boys get home, who has recently been there asking about an escaped aviator?
4. What do the boys tell their parents?
Chapter 8
*An underdiver was someone who was hiding from the Nazis.
1. What work does Uncle Cor do?
2. Who brings Charles back to the Winged Watchman in the boat? Who stays behind at the Giant to remove any evidence?
3. How does Joris get away from Leendert Schenderhans?
Chapter 9
1. What do Uncle Cor and Charles disguise themselves as?
2. Who thinks Tilly is pretty?
3. How do Uncle Cor and Charles get to Leyden?
Chapter 10
1. How does Uncle Cor let Joris’ family know that all is well with Charles and himself?
2. What was “Mad Tuesday”?
3. How does Joris get a red tag for Freya?
4. Do you think the Nazis really like Leendert Schenderhans? Why or why not?
Chapter 11
*On September 17, 1944 the Dutch railway workers went on strike so that the Germans would not be able to use the railways. The railway workers would be in trouble with the Nazis for striking, so they had to go into hiding. Read a short and clear explanation of the strike here
Many other Dutchmen went into hiding to avoid being sent to Germany to work at forced labor for the Nazis.
1. Name some things that were in very short supply in the Netherlands in 1944. What do you think it would be like to go without these things?
2. Why do Koba and Betsy come to stay with Joris’ family?
3. What lies does Mother tell to Leendert Schenderhans? Why does she lie? What would have happened if she hadn’t lied? (Lying is wrong, but sometimes it is necessary to lie to prevent a greater wrong.)
Chapter 12
1. What presents does Mother make for Joris, Dirk Jan, Koba, Betsy, and Trixie for St. Nicholas Day?
2. Why are Uncle Cor and Reina disguised as St. Nicholas and Pieterbaas?
3. How does Uncle Cor get chocolate to give to the children?
Chapter 13
1. What is Dirk Jan’s mission?
2. What are the “foragers” doing? Why?
3. Who is Evert and how does Dirk Jan help him?
Chapter 14
*Anthracite is a kind of coal.
1. How does Dirk Jan get the German soldier to let him go see the miller Mr. van Ryn?
2. How do Dirk Jan and Mr. van Loo signal to the Hoogmade windmill?
3. How do Dirk Jan and Mr. van Loo know that the people at the Hoogmade windmill saw their signal?
Chapter 15
*A lorry is a truck.
1. What do the Allied planes do to the German truck?
2. Why are the Dutch men in the back of the German truck?
3. How does Dirk Jan offer to help the university student named Hildebrand?
Chapter 16
1. Why is Joris jealous of Dirk Jan? Would you have felt jealous if you were Joris?
2. When Joris follows Dirk Jan and the men at night, what does he see?
3. Who does Joris run into at the end of the chapter?
Chapter 17
1. Why is Joris glad he stopped Hendrik before Hendrik could find out where the weapons are hidden?
2. Describe the conversation between Uncle Cor and Joris.
3. What bad news does Father hear about the Winged Watchman?
Chapter 18
*A polder is an area of land reclaimed from the sea by pumping the water out of it and building dikes to prevent the sea from flooding it again.
*Hunger edema is a disease caused by lack of food. It killed many people in the Netherlands in 1944/1945
1. What do the Swedish ships bring to the Netherlands in January and February 1945?
2. What big problem happens in the Norderarr Polder?
3. How is this problem solved?
Chapter 19
*Verboten is the German word for forbidden.
1. What happens when the people are gathered together singing patriotic Dutch songs?
2. What happens to Leendert Schenderhans when he is snooping around the Winged Watchman?
3. Who goes missing in this chapter?
Chapter 20
1. What has happened to the Resistance hero Kees Kip? What is Kees Kip’s real name?
2. Where has Freya been? Who rescues her?
3. What wonderful thing happens beginning on April 29, 1945?
Chapter 21
*Easter 1945 was on April 1. Some parts of the Netherlands had already been liberated earlier, but the final part was liberated on May 5. The Nazis finally surrendered on May 7. V-E Day (Victory in Europe Day) was celebrated on May 8.
1. What is going to be done with the Winged Watchman and the Giant?
2. Describe what happens when Mrs. Groen comes back.
3. When Mrs. Groen leaves, Mother says, “She puts us to shame.” Why do you think she says that?
4. What is your favorite part of this book? Why?