Scout’s Distant Journey (#7) (Piet Prins)

Scout’s Distant Journey

Book 7 of the exciting Scout series!

Scout’s seventh adventure reacquaints us with his three friends and introduces some new characters. One is Uncle Bob, long absent in North America but now back in the old country where he and his wife settle into a small but honest-to-goodness castle!

Naturally Tom and his friends, including Scout, are invited to spend the summer holidays at Uncle Bob’s intriguing house. Actually, the invitation is more like a challenge: Uncle Bob pretends to have a low opinion of “modern youth;” he thinks they’re soft and over-pampered.

To prove him wrong, Tom and his friends decide to travel on foot. But on the journey, little goes right: disasters follow their footsteps and danger is their constant companion.

Other Volumes in the Scout Series:

• The Secret of the Swamp
• The Haunted Castle
• The Flying Phantom
• The Sailing Sleuths
• The Treasure of Rodensteyn Castle
• The Mystery of the Abandoned Mill

About the Author

Pieter (Piet) Jongeling (1909-1985) was also known by the pen name Piet Prins. He was a Dutch politician and author of numerous popular children’s books. He was a member of the Reformed Political League and of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands.  Jongeling worked as a journalist for the anti-revolutionary newspaper Nieuwe Provinciale Groninger Courant. In 1941, during the German occupation of The Netherlands, the publication was banned, and in 1942, Jongeling was sent to the Nazi concentration camp at Amersfoort, from which he was later transferred to another at Sachsenhausen. After his release at the close of World War II, Jongeling became editor of Nieuwe Provinciale Groninger Courant. He later left to become editor of De Vrije Kerk.

Jongeling was elected to the House of Representatives in 1963 and served until 1977.  He was a passionate opponent of the legalization of abortion. He wrote numerous children’s books, always under the pen name Piet Prins, and The Scout Series are the most famous of these (known as “Snuf” in the original Dutch).  Other series of his include The Four Friends and Wambu.