The Wheel on the School

This is an okay book written by Meindert DeJong. Lina, a young schoolgirl in the small Dutch fishing village of Shora, wonders why the storks no longer come to their town. Her curiosity spreads throughout the school and soon everyone is asking what made them leave. And since storks are an ancient symbol of good fortune, the children have to wonder if Shora's good fortune left when the birds did. The students, along with their teacher, take it upon themselves to learn as much as they can about these magnificent creatures, hoping to find a way to encourage the storks to return.

The book was published in 1954 and won the Newbery Medal in 1955. The book was illustrated by Maurice Sendak. The author was born in the Netherlands in 1906, but immigrated to the United States in 1914.