Crusade in Jeans

A great read about the crusades for any teenager

I read the original Dutch version more than 30 years ago. I didn't remember much of the details, but I remember it made a huge impact on me. I recently bought the English translation for my 11-year old daughter and read it myself. Especially in the beginning the translation is forced and doesn't do the story justice. I almost wanted to retranslate it myself for my daughter to read! After reading a few chapters, I got used to the translation. I now know why the book made such an impact on me as a child. Even though the translation takes some of that away (hence the 1-star deduction), I did enjoy the book again after all this time and would recommend it for pre-teens.

i'm so happy that this book has been translated. It's great for kids to read about history in a novel. I love that story

I read the book......mostly a European novel......movie was made years after the author died.....was suppose to be a sequel.....never was....but....I'm sure that one could be easily developed. Book is basically written.

The title of this review, was the original title of the Dutch version. I read most of Thea Beckman's books as a child, and grew immersed into the worlds she managed to recreate by words only, and a child's fantasy. This book does the same to the reader who is willing to discard all logic ; the concept of a army consisting out of 8000 children leaving Germany for a "holy crusade", and a 20th century child who ends up in the medieval times by a transporter (material transmitter). The image of 8000 children travelling to Jeruzalem by foot, is a hard one to conjure up, but she makes it work. There is a certain flow in the book, logic in the way things are shown to you, the reader, that makes it work. You see it, in the end. Sadly enough, I do not believe this to be imagination - Beckman investigated historical events, visited each and every place that she described in her books; the preparation for a book easily could take over a year and a half. This is a classic bit of Dutch literature - many a generation of children (my sister is 35, 12 years older than I, and she has read it as a child, herself) have read it, albeit for school, or private leisure. I was one of them. And when I saw an English copy - I snatched it up. And found that part of the magic had dissapeared tdue to too strict translation work. I wouldn't have minded the words not to have corresponded with the orginal text - as long as the general feeling was kept. What there is left is a rather cold, but still entrancing, translation of the original book. But for those who are not familiar with the Dutch language, this will have to do. And please people, read the book first, then see the movie.

This is such a wonderful story, the dvd might even top this book though. Watch the movie and see for yourself.

I had heard great things about this book, but was really disappointed reading it. There are a lot of historical inaccuracies and anacronisms, and all the action happens "off-stage" so to speak. Hardly anything is actually dramatized, so it all feels very distant. I am very interested in the Children's Crusade, but felt this doesn't capture the medieval mindset at all and does not do a good job of capturing the fervor of the time. Perhaps the original Dutch version is better, but I'm afraid that the English one is to be missed.

Some of the other reviews make me wish I could read Dutch because if it's even better in its original form, then it must be just sensational. I read this book when I was in junior high and re-read it as an adult. When I homeschooled my boys, I made sure to put a copy in their hands as well. Two of the three who read it, loved it. The other simply liked it. Yes, there are historical inaccuracies, but the overall atmosphere of the era is there and the ending is quite satisfying.

This was one of my favourite books when I grew up in the Netherlands. I now bought the English version for my son (11) who is equally blown away by it. Also from an historical point of view it is worth the read.

todo bien. gracias

Ok