The Dik Trom stories were some of my dad's favourites as a boy. In his later years, he was able to download this one from Project Gutenberg and make a "Bogie Edition", which I now have and is the edition I read. The book uses the old 19th century Dutch spelling, which didn't bother me overly. There were many words that are beyond my childlike vocabulary but it didn't reduce the enjoyment of the book much.
The Dik Trom series was one of a spate of books written from the nineteenth century onwards to entertain children instead of moralising at them and they became very popular. This book is the first of the Dik Trom books and takes us from his birth to age eighteen. While it isn't a "moralising" book, Dik does change his ways in some respects after a bit of karma.
One thing that strikes me about this book is that while Dik is the "fat kid" - "dik" means "fat" - the book is free of all the usual fat kid/person tropes that are found everywhere. Instead, he is smart, brave, gets away with mischief, leads the gang of four boys, and has a good heart, helping the poor "witch", as well as his parents when they are down on their luck. It is ironic that a 19th century book is a refreshing change from modern narratives.