Bartje Bartels is the main character in a series of Dutch books written by Anne de Vries from 1935 on. Bartje is boy who lives with his poor family in the countryside of Drenthe. His parents want him to become a farmer like his father, but Bartje has other ideas. He initially works as an apprentice, but when his mother dies, he has to look after his younger brothers and sisters. There is a statue of Bartje in the city of Assen which has been vandalized several times.