Bartje

Bartje Bartels is the main character in a series of Dutch books written by Anne de Vries from 1935 on.

The most famous quotation from Bartje's books appears in a story in which the family is sitting at the table to eat brown beans.

Bartje, who hates brown beans, pushes his plate away when his mother is about to give him some.

He refuses to say grace (a prayer to thank God for the food they are about to eat) and says: Ik bid nie veur bruune boon'n (in modern Dutch: Ik bid niet voor bruine bonen, meaning: I won’t thank God for brown beans).

Bartje's stories were adapted into a television series by Willy van Hemert.