Struwwelpeter

Struwwelpeter is a German children's book from 1845 written by Heinrich Hoffmann. Mainly contains 10 illustrated stories and nursery rhymes about children. Everyone has a clear moral to over-emphasize the disastrous consequences of bad behavior. The name of the first story gives the name of the entire book. Der Struwwelpeter was one of the first children's books to combine visual and verbal stories in book form and is considered a precursor to comics.

By: Heinrich Hoffmann (1809 - 1894)

The Stories:

1. Struwwelpeter describes a boy who was unpopular due to poor care. 

 

2. Die Geschichte vom bösen Friederich ("The Tale of the Evil Frederick"): A violent boy who terrifies animals and humans. He was eventually bitten by a dog, which continued to eat the boy's food while Frederick was bedridden. 

 

3. Die gar traurige Geschichte mit dem Feuerzeug ("A very sad story with a match"): A girl who plays with a match, accidentally lights it up, gets burned and dies. 

 

4. Die Geschichte von den schwarzen Buben ("The Story of the Ink Boys"): Nikolas (or "Agrippa" in some translations) surprises when three boys tease a dark-skinned boy. To give them lessons, he dipped them in black ink. 

 

5. Die Geschichte von dem wilden Jäger ("The Tale of the Wild Hunter") is the only story that is not primarily focused on children. In it, the rabbit steals the hunter's musket and goggles and begins to hunt down the hunter. In the chaotic situation that followed, the rabbit was cooked in hot coffee and the hunter fell into the well. 

 

6. Die Geschichte vom Daumenlutscher ("The Tale of the Bloodsucker"): A mother warns her son Conrad not to suck his thumb. But when she left the house, he started sucking her thumb again until a walking tailor appeared and cut her thumb with a pair of giant scissors. 

 

7. Die Geschichte vom Suppen-Kaspar ("The Story of SoupKaspar") begins when Kaspar (or "Augustus" in some translations), a healthy and strong boy, declares that he no longer eats the soup. For the next five days he died in vain. 

 

8. Die Geschichte vom Zappel-Philipp ("Philip's Story"): A boy who doesn't want to sit down to dinner accidentally spills all his food on the floor, much to his parents' disappointment. 

 

9. Die Geschichte von Hans Guck-in-die-Luft ("The Story of Johnny LookInTheAir") is about a boy who often can't see where he's going. One day he set foot in the river. He will soon be saved, but his works will drift away. 

 

10. Die Geschichte vom fliegenden Robert ("The Flying Robert Tale"): A boy went out during a storm. The wind lifted his umbrella and lifted it into the air. The story ends with the boy leaving.