What do you think?
Rate this book
Mein Esel Benjamin
"Eine erstaunliche, aber bestimmt wahre Geschichte für Kinder and große Leute, erzählt von Susi."
First published January 1, 1968
2 people are currently reading
60 people want to read
About the author
Hans Limmer
19 books1 follower"Hans Limmer wanderte in den 1960er Jahren mit seiner Familie nach Griechenland aus und lebte bis zu seinem Tode auf der Insel Rhodos. In Lindos auf Rhodos entstand auch Limmers Geschichte, die von der Freundschaft seiner kleinen Tochter Susi zu einem gefundenen Esel namens Benjamin erzählt, anrührend eingefangen in Schwarz-Weiß-Fotografien von Lennart Osbeck. Seit seinem ersten Erscheinen 1968 wurde das Buch in unzähligen Auflagen nachgedruckt." Am 28. Februar 2015 verstarb er im Alter von 88 Jahren. (Source: www.umbreit.de)
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
January 19, 2021
Thank you so much to Goodreads friend Manybooks for recommending this wonderful book.
Susie lives on a Mediterranean island and on a walk with her father one morning finds a baby donkey stuck on a cliff, only a few days old and no donkey mum in sight, Susie's dad lifts baby donkey to safety and he trots home with Susie and dad to meet mum and baby sister. The new family member settles in well and is named Benjamin.
An adventure unfolds with Susie and Benjamin. The black and white photography is beautiful, the story, like all things of quality hasn't dated, lovely day to day happenings of a young family and super cute new pet.
I loved it and so did my 12 yr old, who looked a lot like Susie at that age, and was equally in love with animals and still is. The first thing she said after I read her this book was
'It isn't from the library is it?'
'No'
'Good'
The next time I buy a gift for a young child or baby they will definitely be receiving this book.
Read again today 13th June 2018. Really wonderful book.
Reread today 19th January. Wonderful escapism, I want to be on that Mediterranean island with Susie and an adopted donkey now please.
Susie lives on a Mediterranean island and on a walk with her father one morning finds a baby donkey stuck on a cliff, only a few days old and no donkey mum in sight, Susie's dad lifts baby donkey to safety and he trots home with Susie and dad to meet mum and baby sister. The new family member settles in well and is named Benjamin.
An adventure unfolds with Susie and Benjamin. The black and white photography is beautiful, the story, like all things of quality hasn't dated, lovely day to day happenings of a young family and super cute new pet.
I loved it and so did my 12 yr old, who looked a lot like Susie at that age, and was equally in love with animals and still is. The first thing she said after I read her this book was
'It isn't from the library is it?'
'No'
'Good'
The next time I buy a gift for a young child or baby they will definitely be receiving this book.
Read again today 13th June 2018. Really wonderful book.
Reread today 19th January. Wonderful escapism, I want to be on that Mediterranean island with Susie and an adopted donkey now please.
May 28, 2017
Hans Limmer's in all ways brilliant Mein Esel Benjamin was one of my absolutely favourite picture books when I was a child. The story of Susi and the little donkey she and her family adopt is for all intents and purposes timeless, inherently sweet, caressing, soothing (just thinking back to little Susi feeding baby Benjamin with her little sister's bottle makes me shiver with nostalgic pleasure) and Lennart Osbeck's darling black and white accompanying photographs are as fresh and as evocative today as they were in late 60s (when this book was first published and when I first read Mein Esel Benjamin or rather, had it read to me multiple and repetitive times, over and over again and again). And yes, even today, Mein Esel Benjamin continues to be a perennial favourite with German, Swiss and Austrian children (I know that my nieces absolutely adored it). Now while I am only familiar with the German original, there supposedly does exist an English translation, My Donkey Benjamin (unfortunately, it seems incredibly rare, and I have sadly not yet been able to locate a copy on any of the used book websites I frequent, and believe me, I have repeatedly tried).
EDITED TO ADD: Now it is with some considerable consternation that I have recently become aware of the fact that some I guess supposedly avant-guarde (and likely activist) German literary critics (I do not remember their actual names and really do not want to remember their names all that much either) have majorly faulted and even condemned Hans Limmer for penning, for publishing such a "tame" and I guess to them thus also overly conservative family type story (they especially fault the author for the fact that as Mein Esel Benjamin was first published in1968, in an era, in a year of societal and cultural upheaval, and as such, according to them, it should have been promoting rebellion or at least taking stock of dysfunction in German families and German culture). But really and sorry, but what a pile of thoughtless and ignorant road apples! Hans Limmer's Mein Esel Benjamin is simply a lovely, soothing and engaging little tale about a family who adopts a baby donkey and anyone who wants to consider this as problematic, as somehow a cultural issue or a shortcoming (or as somehow not being critical and perhaps even anarchistic enough from a societal point of view) really does need to give his or her head a very much massive shake.
EDITED TO ADD: Now it is with some considerable consternation that I have recently become aware of the fact that some I guess supposedly avant-guarde (and likely activist) German literary critics (I do not remember their actual names and really do not want to remember their names all that much either) have majorly faulted and even condemned Hans Limmer for penning, for publishing such a "tame" and I guess to them thus also overly conservative family type story (they especially fault the author for the fact that as Mein Esel Benjamin was first published in1968, in an era, in a year of societal and cultural upheaval, and as such, according to them, it should have been promoting rebellion or at least taking stock of dysfunction in German families and German culture). But really and sorry, but what a pile of thoughtless and ignorant road apples! Hans Limmer's Mein Esel Benjamin is simply a lovely, soothing and engaging little tale about a family who adopts a baby donkey and anyone who wants to consider this as problematic, as somehow a cultural issue or a shortcoming (or as somehow not being critical and perhaps even anarchistic enough from a societal point of view) really does need to give his or her head a very much massive shake.
May 16, 2023
Hans Limmer's in all ways brilliant Mein Esel Benjamin was one of my absolutely favourite picture books when I was a child. The story of Susi and the little donkey she and her family adopt is for all intents and purposes timeless, inherently sweet, caressing, soothing. Just thinking back to little Susi feeding baby Benjamin with her little sister's bottle makes me shiver with nostalgic pleasure, and Lennart Osbeck's darling black and white accompanying photographs are as fresh and as evocative today as they were in late 60s (when this book was first published and when I first read Mein Esel Benjamin or rather, had it read to me multiple and repetitive times, over and over again and again). And yes, even today, Mein Esel Benjamin continues to be a perennial favourite with German, Swiss and Austrian children (I know that my nieces absolutely adored it). Now while I am only familiar with the German original, there supposedly does exist an English translation, My Donkey Benjamin (unfortunately, it seems incredibly rare, and I have sadly not yet been able to locate a copy on any of the used book websites I frequent, and believe me, I have repeatedly tried).
EDITED TO ADD: Now it is with some considerable consternation that I have recently become aware of the fact that some I guess supposedly avant-guarde (and likely activist) German literary critics (I do not remember their actual names and really do not want to remember their names all that much either) have majorly faulted and even condemned Hans Limmer for penning, for publishing such a "tame" and I guess to them thus also overly conservative family type story (and they especially fault the author for the fact that as Mein Esel Benjamin was first published in 1968, in an era, in a year of societal and cultural upheaval, and as such, according to them, it should have been promoting rebellion or at least taking stock of dysfunction in German families and German culture). But really and sorry, come on, what a pile of thoughtless and ignorant stinking road apples! Hans Limmer's Mein Esel Benjamin is simply a lovely, soothing and engaging little tale about a family who adopts a baby donkey and anyone who wants to consider this as problematic, as somehow a cultural issue or a shortcoming (or worse, as somehow not being critical and perhaps even anarchistic enough from a societal point of view) really does need to give his or her head a massive, long shake.
And oh wow! There is now a recent (2016) British edition of Mein Esel Benjamin available (translated by Elke Wakefield and quite easily and cost effectively available online, a totally lovely, handsomely presented hardcover that also includes ALL of Lennart Osbeck's delightful and heartwarming photographs of little Susi and her donkey Benjamin). While I was (as is usually the case with me) at first more than a bit leery of reading a translation of one of my favourite all time German language picture books, with Elke Wakefield's rendition, I absolutely and appreciatively need not have worried one bit. Her translated text is perfect, is absolutely divine, capturing both the tone and feel of Hans Limmer's original narrative, but without ever making My Donkey Benjamin feel and read in any way unnatural (in other words, the translation reads like a story in and of itself, it does happily and fortunately not ever read like a literal word to word transferral from German, but simply and caressingly like a lovely little animal/human friendship tale in its own right). Most highly recommended, and I am indeed so very glad that there finally is a recent and not all that difficult to obtain (good) translation of Hans Limmer's timeless classic available, as it was indeed getting rather majorly frustrating for me to have to tell GR friends who were interested in perusing Mein Esel Benjamin but do not read German that the only English language translation appeared to be an impossible to obtain version from the early 70s (which with this recent 2016 Elke Wakefield translation is now of course NO LONGER the case).
EDITED TO ADD: Now it is with some considerable consternation that I have recently become aware of the fact that some I guess supposedly avant-guarde (and likely activist) German literary critics (I do not remember their actual names and really do not want to remember their names all that much either) have majorly faulted and even condemned Hans Limmer for penning, for publishing such a "tame" and I guess to them thus also overly conservative family type story (and they especially fault the author for the fact that as Mein Esel Benjamin was first published in 1968, in an era, in a year of societal and cultural upheaval, and as such, according to them, it should have been promoting rebellion or at least taking stock of dysfunction in German families and German culture). But really and sorry, come on, what a pile of thoughtless and ignorant stinking road apples! Hans Limmer's Mein Esel Benjamin is simply a lovely, soothing and engaging little tale about a family who adopts a baby donkey and anyone who wants to consider this as problematic, as somehow a cultural issue or a shortcoming (or worse, as somehow not being critical and perhaps even anarchistic enough from a societal point of view) really does need to give his or her head a massive, long shake.
And oh wow! There is now a recent (2016) British edition of Mein Esel Benjamin available (translated by Elke Wakefield and quite easily and cost effectively available online, a totally lovely, handsomely presented hardcover that also includes ALL of Lennart Osbeck's delightful and heartwarming photographs of little Susi and her donkey Benjamin). While I was (as is usually the case with me) at first more than a bit leery of reading a translation of one of my favourite all time German language picture books, with Elke Wakefield's rendition, I absolutely and appreciatively need not have worried one bit. Her translated text is perfect, is absolutely divine, capturing both the tone and feel of Hans Limmer's original narrative, but without ever making My Donkey Benjamin feel and read in any way unnatural (in other words, the translation reads like a story in and of itself, it does happily and fortunately not ever read like a literal word to word transferral from German, but simply and caressingly like a lovely little animal/human friendship tale in its own right). Most highly recommended, and I am indeed so very glad that there finally is a recent and not all that difficult to obtain (good) translation of Hans Limmer's timeless classic available, as it was indeed getting rather majorly frustrating for me to have to tell GR friends who were interested in perusing Mein Esel Benjamin but do not read German that the only English language translation appeared to be an impossible to obtain version from the early 70s (which with this recent 2016 Elke Wakefield translation is now of course NO LONGER the case).
December 4, 2019
Originally published in 1968, Mein Esel Benjamin is considered a modern classic of German children's literature, and has been on my to-be-read shelf for quite some time. Although it was translated into English back in 1969 (My Donkey Benjamin), the translation has long been out-of-print, and is very difficult to obtain. Thankfully, the friend who first recommended the book to me also came through with a copy in the original German - thank you, Gundula!
A charming story, narrated by little Susi, is paired with adorable black-and-white photographs in this picture-book, setting out the tale of a little girl, living with her family on an island in the Mediterranean, who finds and adopts an abandoned baby donkey. Benjamin is a winsome creature (as is his little girl!), with soft fur, gentle eyes, and a velvet nose. He also sometimes experiences a little wanderlust, leading to an early morning adventure for himself, and for Susi!
There is an innocence to this book, which depicts a young girl in a safe world - a girl who is free to wander through the alleyways of her village, and out to a distant beach - that is immensely appealing to me. The photographs show a sun-drenched world that makes me long for places I have never seen. It is easy to see why this has become such a perennial favorite with young Germans! A beautiful island world? Check! A charming narrator who is young, like themselves? Check! An adorable animal friend? Check! What's not to love?
A charming story, narrated by little Susi, is paired with adorable black-and-white photographs in this picture-book, setting out the tale of a little girl, living with her family on an island in the Mediterranean, who finds and adopts an abandoned baby donkey. Benjamin is a winsome creature (as is his little girl!), with soft fur, gentle eyes, and a velvet nose. He also sometimes experiences a little wanderlust, leading to an early morning adventure for himself, and for Susi!
There is an innocence to this book, which depicts a young girl in a safe world - a girl who is free to wander through the alleyways of her village, and out to a distant beach - that is immensely appealing to me. The photographs show a sun-drenched world that makes me long for places I have never seen. It is easy to see why this has become such a perennial favorite with young Germans! A beautiful island world? Check! A charming narrator who is young, like themselves? Check! An adorable animal friend? Check! What's not to love?
June 3, 2022
Das war früher mein Lieblings(-Bilder-)buch. Die Story, die Bilder, einfach alles 1a. Hab das Buch so oft „gelesen“.
March 2, 2013
Oh how I loved this book! Just so, so, so much.
November 13, 2009
I loved this book! I must have read it a hundred times! The version we had at the farm had the same wonderful picture of the little girl hugging her donkey on it that the German version has.... but sadly I could not find that edition in English so I had to put up with this one... and I chose the oldest edition which came out in 1969.... just about the time I was reading it....to myself, to Atticus, to Bok, to Emily and to Sarah. It is a really lovely story and very sweet. I recommend it to any parents of young children or young hearts. It's certainly a smile-on-you-face book. :)
April 14, 2015
THE favorite of my early childhood. I even persuaded my parents to name my sister after the heroine's baby sister. But I never managed to find a little donkey. If I had, my parents would not have let me keep it, though.
My old copy has become so fragile that I treated myself with a brand new copy of the mini edition a few years ago.
My old copy has become so fragile that I treated myself with a brand new copy of the mini edition a few years ago.
November 28, 2010
As a child named Susie, I thought this book was written just for me. It was one of my favorites as a child. I wish I knew what happened to that book, they are not easy to come by these days. A totally enchanting story of a little girl and an orphaned baby donkey she and her dad rescue one day on their walk. Great story, great pictures. Should be on every childs must read list.
February 5, 2013
My favourite childhood book.. brings back memories of a dreamy landscape and the special bond between a little girl and her pet..
April 10, 2020
Sevgi dolu, değerli ve özel bir kitap. Pastoral yaşamı, hayvanların dostluğunu (ve hayvan sevgisini de) yücelten “timeless” bir klasik. Şanslı olup edinebilecek her çocu��un hayatına dokunacağını düşündüğüm bu kitap arşivimin en değerli parçalarından biri.
September 7, 2025
Als ik een persoon was geweest die kanker in zijn spreektaal gebruikt, had ik gezegd dat dit echt een kanker lief boek was
August 7, 2022
my absolute favorite book from childhood
November 20, 2013
This is one wonderful book~one of my very favorites growing up!
May 31, 2017
Kindheitserinnerung ❤
October 19, 2016
Kindheitsbuch
February 16, 2017
A beautiful story for little children with black and white photographs.
February 20, 2017
Tolles Buch, besonders wenn man Esel und Benjamins mag.
July 14, 2025
This book was translated from the German by Elke Wakefield, and something definitely got lost in translation.
Originally published in 1968, this English edition didn't come out until 2016. That was more than enough time to realize that publishing a nude of a very small girl is verboten.
Yes, it's a full frontal of a toddler walking on the beach. Jesus -- what were the folks at Scribe Publications thinking?
Then again, perhaps I don't want to know what they were thinking.
Also, it was totally wrong to let a donkey foal in the fucking house. If the foal should survive the insipid diet of milk and sugar he's being given, he's going to be a 300 - 450 pound menace.
Benjamin probably ran away to get some decent food.
Originally published in 1968, this English edition didn't come out until 2016. That was more than enough time to realize that publishing a nude of a very small girl is verboten.
Yes, it's a full frontal of a toddler walking on the beach. Jesus -- what were the folks at Scribe Publications thinking?
Then again, perhaps I don't want to know what they were thinking.
Also, it was totally wrong to let a donkey foal in the fucking house. If the foal should survive the insipid diet of milk and sugar he's being given, he's going to be a 300 - 450 pound menace.
Benjamin probably ran away to get some decent food.
July 4, 2021
Sehr süß, hab das schon bestimmt 100 mal gelesen
June 12, 2022
Kann mich tbh nicht mehr wirklich an den Inhalt erinnern, aber aus Nostalgie Gründen sind es 4 Sterne.
March 18, 2026
Lieblingskinderbuch
January 19, 2026
Dieses Buch war schon das Lieblingskinderbuch meiner Mutter und es ist auch meins ♥️
November 20, 2025
diese Fotos sind zuckersüß, ich möchte jetzt auch gerne einen Babyesel als Freund haben 🥺
Read
August 30, 2022So süß!
Read
September 14, 2011My father gave me this as a child. Give it a shot Anne! Teach Story German. :-)
Read
December 12, 2018Read this standing in a museum shop. Very cute little story. I did want a little more drama on Susi's return after getting lost with the donkey. But you can't have everything.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews