Children's Books discussion

I read a book in the '80s, which I believe was older then, maybe '50s but probably not older, about a European boy (Swiss?) whose father was a mountaineer. I don't recall the plot, but what stuck with me was the boy hating his own hands, which he felt weren't manly like his father's, so he'd plunge them into snow and ice to roughen them. Thanks for any help! (I feel like the paperback cover had a lot of blue in the illustration.)

I don't remember the key detail, but I do remember the boy's ambitions to prove manliness: Banner in the Sky.
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has even more blue, and a mountain, but doesn't otherwise fit.
Similarly I was reminded of .

If the first isn't right, it's possible that you've unconsciously conflated more than one book. The three I list are all Newberys, so they would have been available and 'pushed' to you at school.

Thank you! From the description on the book's entry, I'm pretty sure Banner in the Sky is the one. I'm very excited to read it again!

It does sound like Banner in the Sky.

I hope you love it!

I can confirm now, it was Banner in the Sky that I was looking for. But, I did indeed conflate it with something else, I know not what. In this book, it was the boy's FACE, not HANDS, that he didn't like. I'd quote the passage but I don't know if that's allowed here. Now, where I got the "hands" thing from....

Quoting is fine, up to a hundred words or so anyway.

Here's just over 100, which captures the gist:

"… he was not typical at all. Partly, this was because of his slimness, his lightness of muscle and bone; but even more it was in his small, almost delicate features and his fair, pink-and-white complexion. Rudi Matt hated his complexion. In summer he exposed his face for hours to the burning sun, in winter he scrubbed it violently with snow, trying to make it brown and tough and weather-stained, as a mountain man's should be. … 'Angel-face,' the other boys called him. … Most of the men of Kurtal had black hair. Rudi's was blond. Most of them had dark eyes. Rudi's were light…."

That is a memorable bit, indeed. I bet that part alone swayed the Newbery committee to honor this book. Thank you for posting!