Struwwelpeter

by Heinrich Hoffmann

First published in 1845. Struwwelpeter (variously translated as "slovenly" or "shock-headed" Peter) has become widely recognized as one of the most popular and influential children's books ever written. Heinrich Hoffmann was a Frankfurt physician. Unhappy with the dry and pedagogic books available for children at the time, he wrote and illustrated Struwwelpeter as a Christmas present for his three-year-old son. The book relates in verse and pictures the often gruesome consequences that befall children who torment animals, play with matches, suck their thumbs, refuse to eat, fidget at meals, etc.
Written in rhyming couplets and illustrated by the author, the book was an immediate success. It has since gone through hundreds of editions and been published in almost every European language.

Genres: Classics, German Literature, Childrens, Fiction, Poetry, Picture Books, Horror

34 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1845

About the author

Note: There is more than one Heinrich Hoffman.

Heinrich Hoffmann was a German psychiatrist, who also wrote some short works including Der Struwwelpeter (German for either "slovenly Peter" or "shock-haired Peter"), an illustrated book portraying children misbehaving.

He wrote under the following names:

- Polykarpus Gastfenger (The given name is the German version of that of a Christian martyr; the surname sounds like "Gastfänger", which could be a common noun for "guest-catcher".)
- Heulalius von Heulenburg
- Heinrich Hoffmann
- Heinrich Hoffmann-Donner (The second half of the compound surname would mean "thunder" as a common noun, or a name for the Germanic thunder-god Thor.)
- Heinrich Kinderlieb (The surname means roughly "love of children")
- Reimerich Kinderlieb
- Peter Struwwel (This name reverses the order of the components of "Struwwelpeter".)
- Zwiebel (As a common noun, this would mean "onion")

In Frankfurt/Germany there is a Heinrich-Hoffmann-Museum Frankfurt.

Hoffmann studied medicine in Heidelberg. From 1851, he was director of the municipal psychiatry in Frankfurt.

He is the subject of the historical novel, 98 Reasons for Being.

Reviews

[Petra X · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the antidote to Disney. It is the opposite of all those nasty, sugar-sweet versions of Cinderella, the Little Mermaid and worst of all Winnie-the-Pooh. Worst because Eeyore was, in the original, A.A. Milne version, a sarcastic, depressive real loner of a donkey, not a sweet-natured stuffed toy.

Struwwelpeter is all about children getting punished in the nastiest possible ways for their awful misdeeds. I loved this book when I was a kid. I also loved Disney, but I grew out of that, except for Bambi. Have to love Bambi.

My two personal favourites of the stories are firstly, Conrad, aka Little Suck-a-Thumb who was told that if he didn't stop plugging his mouth with his thumb he would get it cut off. And when he didn't and his mother was out, the nasty Scissorman came and snip snap, both thumbs gone!

Secondly is Augustus, my no. one favourite, who starved himself to death rather than drink the nasty soup he was served for lunch. I had some sympathy there as more than once I had to sit at the lunch table, even missing school in the afternoon, because I wouldn't drink up the nasty chicken soup. I know that being Jewish chicken soup is supposed to be in my dna, but it just isn't and I hate the stuff, loathe it Or another time, wouldn't eat the liver casserole, cold with congealed floating grease, or lamb chops glistening with fat...

These sort of stories were much more satisfying to me as a child being delightfully shivery.

But there was something else. Children have a very highly developed sense of justice. They are forever saying, "it's not fair" about some perceived injustice. Stories like these where naughty children get their comeuppance appeal to kids, they see the fitness of a punishment, rather than the forgiveness and sugary reward and happily-ever-after od Disney that never actually comes their way when they've been very naughty little boys and girls.

You can read all the stories and see the original hand-coloured woodblock prints on the Gutenberg site.

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Der Struwwelpeter is one of those picture books I grew up with, and read and heard repeatedly as a child, so I have an unreasonable amount of love for it, even though it's kind of awful? All credit goes to my German-speaking mom, although I'm not sure if she shared this book with my siblings and me because she thought it was a funny book or was trying to scare us straight.

This German children's picture book with moral lessons in poems was first published in 1845, when society (particularly in Germany, I suspect) was much in the mode of "spare the rod and spoil the child." No children being spoiled here! There are ten stories, pretty much all intended to show the horrible things--maiming, death, etc.--that will happen if you are a disobedient or misbehaving child. For example:

In "Die gar traurige Geschichte mit dem Feuerzeug" ("The Very Sad Story with the Match"), a girl plays with matches and is burned to death. A pile of ashes is all that remains of her. Her cats (who tried to warn her to stay away from the matches) are crying a river of tears.

Just like my cat would if anything ever happened to me, I'm very sure.

In "Die Geschichte vom Daumenlutscher" ("The Story of the Thumb-Sucker")--my favorite as a child!--the mother warns her son Konrad not to suck his thumbs, or the tailor (literally, the "cutter"), who apparently has nothing better to do than snoop around looking for thumb-sucking children, will come and snip them right off. But as soon his mother leaves the house, pop! Konrad's thumb goes right back into his mouth. Suddenly this huge tailor leaps into the room and cuts off his thumbs with a giant scissors! Bam!!

The last picture shows Konrad standing there sadly, with little stumps where his thumbs used to be.

Good times!

And so it goes. It's even a tiny bit liberal for its time: There's a story about a guy hunting rabbits where a hare grabs the gun while he's asleep and turns it on him.

HAH! Take that!

And another story where three boys who are making fun of an African's dark skin are dipped in ink by a giant, stern St. Nicholas so they can find out what it really means to be black.

This line from the Wikipedia article on this book cracks me up:

Hoffmann wrote Struwwelpeter in reaction to the lack of good children's books. Intending to buy a picture book as a Christmas present for his three-year-old son, Hoffmann instead wrote and illustrated his own book.

Okay, I thought this was hilarious as a child, but I'm not sure sharing it with a 3 year old is the way to go. But there it says, right on the title page: "Funny stories and droll pictures, for children 3-6 years old." ("Lustige Geschichten und drollige Bilder für Kinder von 3 bis 6 Jahren.") Just for the record, I do NOT recommend this for sensitive little ones. But maybe if you've got a rowdy 5 or 6 year old ....

Anyway, this poetry book is a classic, in its own weird and gruesome way. And I read it many, many times as a child, and I turned out fine! (SHUT UP!)

Here's a link to the original German version, free on Project Gutenberg, and here's another link to an English translation that's pretty good, if rather loose.

[Manny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read these classic morality tales enough times as a kid that I knew large chunks by heart. But, let's face it, back then they were seriously out of date, and now they're so archaic that they aren't amusing even as kitsch. No wonder most children today haven't heard of them.

So why doesn't someone produce an updated edition? I'm sure it wouldn't be difficult. Here are some suggestions:

Scarlett, Who Read Glossy Women's Magazines And Died Of Anorexia

Keith, Who Didn't Believe In Climate Change And Was Drowned In A Flash Flood

Saffron, Who Ate Genetically Modified Food And Grew An Extra Head

James, Who Supported Liberal Healthcare Reform And Was Euthanased

Emily, Who Switched Off Her Family Filter And Was Raped By A Pedophile

Darren, Who Played Violent Video Games And Became A Serial Killer

Madison, Who Questioned The War On Terror And Was Exploded By An Islamicist

Feel free to add your own. And if anyone is inspired to actually go and do it, please just mention my name somewhere in the introduction...
_____________________

[Update, Jul 11 2017]

Life imitates art (and possibly vice versa). I hope that some poetically gifted person will take note of Ms. O'Guinn's responsible and timely suggestion.

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is some freaky shit.

[Manny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this innumerable times in English translation as a child, and still know a lot of it by heart... but somehow I had never got around to looking at the German original. OMG, it is the most hysterically funny thing I have seen in at least a month. My German is very, very poor, and even so I found it impossible not to laugh on almost every page.

Here's a sample, courtesy of the Gutenberg version. If you also know the English Struwwelpeter, just try reading it aloud while looking at the pictures, and you'll see what I mean. The contrast between the happy, bouncy rhymes and the gruesome story of Paulinchen, who's too fond of playing with matches...



Die gar traurige Geschichte mit dem Feuerzeug

Paulinchen war allein zu Haus,
die Eltern waren beide aus.
Als sie nun durch das Zimmer sprang
mit leichtem Mut und Sing und Sang,
da sah sie plötzlich vor sich stehn
ein Feuerzeug, nett anzusehn.

»Ei,« sprach sie, »ei, wie schön und fein!
Das muß ein trefflich Spielzeug sein.
Ich zünde mir ein Hölzchen an,
wie’s oft die Mutter hat getan.«

Und Minz und Maunz, die Katzen,
erheben ihre Tatzen.
Sie drohen mit den Pfoten:
»Der Vater hat’s verboten!
Miau! Mio! Miau! Mio!
laß stehn! sonst brennst du lichterloh!«

Paulinchen hört die Katzen nicht!
Das Hölzchen brennt gar hell und licht,
das flackert lustig, knistert laut,
grad wie ihr’s auf dem Bilde schaut.
Paulinchen aber freut sich sehr
und sprang im Zimmer hin und her.

Doch Minz und Maunz, die Katzen,
erheben ihre Tatzen.
Sie drohen mit den Pfoten:
»Die Mutter hat’s verboten!
Miau! Mio! Miau! Mio!
wirf’s weg! sonst brennst du lichterloh!«



Doch weh! die Flamme faßt das Kleid,
die Schürze brennt, es leuchtet weit.
Es brennt die Hand, es brennt das Haar,
es brennt das ganze Kind sogar.

Und Minz und Maunz, die schreien
gar jämmerlich zu zweien:
»Herbei! Herbei! Wer hilft geschwind?
In Feuer steht das ganze Kind!
Miau! Mio! Miau! Mio!
zu Hilf! das Kind brennt lichterloh!«

Verbrannt ist alles ganz und gar,
das arme Kind mit Haut und Haar;
ein Häuflein Asche bleibt allein
und beide Schuh, so hübsch und fein.

Und Minz und Maunz, die kleinen,
die sitzen da und weinen:
»Miau! Mio! Miau! Mio!
wo sind die armen Eltern! wo?«
Und ihre Tränen fließen
wie’s Bächlein auf den Wiesen.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

According to recent research there was an additional story meant for publication, but was somehow missing from the final book. So, in addition to the stories of the Shock-headed Peter, Cruel Frederick, Fidgety Philip, and Johnny Head-in-Air we can expect to read the following story in future editions of the Struwwelpeter:

The story of the Lyin’ Donald

Since childhood, it is sad to tell,
young Donald did not behave well.
From morning when he bared his eyes
’til nightfall, all he told was lies.
The truth to Don was nothing more
than “one and one and one makes four”.



His wordbook he liked to deface
and blacked out honesty and grace.
Became a scoundrel and a crook,
took some advice from Adolf’s book.



He one day ran for president,
still kept on lyin’ with intent.
He lost the ballot. That was sweet
when he cried out Rip-Off!, Swindle!, Cheat!



And kept on crying through the night
his face turned red then blue then white.
When finally his heart gave out
he hit the floor flat on his snout.



He kept there lying stiff and still
but no one cared of him until
a pig appeared and snacked him quick
and only left behind his wig.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

[Manybooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Truth be told, but I have always found rating Heinrich Hoffmann’s Der Struwwelpeter (both in its German original and in the English translations I have read over the years) rather difficult. For while Der Struwwelpeter was and still is considered a classic of German children's literature, nevertheless I still do not really believe that the stories contained therein are at all suitable for some children, and especially not for those children who have very vivid and active imaginations. Case in point, both of my grandmothers repeatedly read me the German version of Der Struwwelpeter when I was a young child, and some of the stories actually gave me vividly horrid nightmares. For example, I was absolutely positive that the tailor would come with his horrible scissors and cut off my brother's thumbs (because he sucked his thumbs at the time), and the terrible story of the little girl burned to death because she played with matches frightened me so much and lastingly that I did not even attempt to light a match until I was about 18 years old. In retropsect though, I am actually convinced that it was NOT the text, the narrative of Der Sruwwelpeter, but the author's bold and very graphic accompanying illustrations that gave me the nightmares, that frightened me so much (as being read Grimms' fairy tales from a standard unillustrated book produced no such reactions, just a lasting appreciation of the tales).

Now granted, Heinrich Hoffmann's stories and pictures are most definitely entertaining, engaging to a point (and indeed often very much thought-provoking), and Der Sruwwelpeter is also a worthwhile and interesting example of 19th century German children's literature and pedagogy (especially since some critics are now also convinced that Hoffmann actually intended Der Struwwelpeter not only as a pedagogical tool for children and child rearing but as a humorous parody of similar such books that in the middle of the 19th cenuty proliferated the German market). However and all the above having been said, in my opinion, Der Struwwelpeter is also not a book that should necessarily be read to and with very young children. Older children might well find a discussion of the different pedagogical methods (and whether Der Struwwelpeter might in fact be parodistic) intriguing, but der Struwwelpeter (either in the original German or translation) should really never simply be read to or with a young child without first making sure that the latter will not be needlessly frightened by the stories and by the accompanying pictures (and judging from my own childhood reaction, resulting nightmares are a distinct and real possibilty). The book definitely is a classic, the book also deserves to be ranked as a classic, but with Der Struwwelpeter, and especially if actually considering it for younger children, "reader beware" is in my opinion most definitely a very necessary caveat.

[Manybooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

A classic German children's book, but one that, in my opinion, is or rather can be too violent and also at times too strictly pedagogical for children, or rather, some children. I was actually frightened by a number of the tales when I was a child, and while I have much more of an appreciation for and of Der Struwwelpeter as an adult, it is my firm belief that many of the recounted anecdotes (as well as the illustrations, and in many ways, these even more so) can be rather majorly creepy for imaginative and/or exceedingly sensitive children. I certainly would not simply read this book aloud to younger children, unless I was absolutely positive and certain they would not be too scared by either the stories or the bold, but also often rather strangely uncanny accompaying pictures (I still sometimes have dreams about the tailor with his large scissors, cutting off the digits of children who suck their thumbs). And while some authorities on German children's literature now make the rather intriguing claim that Heinrich Hoffmann actually meant Der Struwwelpeter to be somewhat of a parody, it does not change the fact that both text and even more so the illustrations can, in my opinion, be a source of and for fear in sensitive children.

I do have to admit though that there is one short snippet in this collection that even as a small child I found and still now consider absolutely hilarious, namely the episode where the bigoted insensitive bullying boys are punished by Saint Nicholas for having relentlessy taunted an African man by being dumped into a huge vat of ink (and the ink is permanent and does NOT come off). I laughed like anything and with massive Schadenfreude whenever my grandmother read this particular story to me. And while in retrospect, I think she was kind of shocked at my reaction, I thought and still comtinue to think that this was a more than deserved punishment for the boys' bigotry and nastiness.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew up with this rhymed and illustrated children’s book about Struwwelpeter (Shockheaded Peter). It consists of several cautionary tales with grotesque consequences, meant to prevent children from doing ‘wrong’ and dangerous things. I’ve always had a grisly fascination with this book, which was first published in 1845!

[Dorcas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some kids might be a little traumatized with this book, but I dare say most would love it. All the things threatened to happen when children misbehave actually happen. It's a dark book but amusing in its own way.

[Steffi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Einfach ein Klassiker mit liebevollen Bildern. Pädagogische Kurzreime. Zeitlos, wenn man so will. Gehörte zu einem meiner liebsten Kinderbücher. Der Zauber der Geschichten ist auch jetzt mit „erwachsenen“ Augen betrachtet noch da.
_____________________________
Nach dem zweiten Mal lesen:
Ob dieses Buch immer noch die Kindheit von jetzigen Kindern begleitet?
Ich mag die Bilder sehr und bei den einzelnen Geschichten steckt immer irgend eine Aussage dahinter, die man sowohl als Kind, als auch als Erwachsener versteht. Ich mag Struwwelpeter auch mehr als Max und Moritz. Kann mit den Geschichten einfach mehr anfangen.

[Daren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had read a number of reviews about this book, and have read the Hitler propaganda version Struwwelhitler: A Nazi Story Book, so when I found this book for 50c in a second hand bookstore, I picked it up. My edition isn't that old (a 1981 printing of a 1972 publication) but it maintains the classic artwork, and without doubt has a dated feel to the content - kitsch really.

Kitsch it might be, but these morality tales are still funny, and the brightly coloured pictures are great. My daughter is still a little young, and I have been told that she isn't allowed to be shown it (yet?), but I look forward to her getting some exposure to some unsanitised tales.

My favourite in this short book is The story if Little Suck-a-Thumb who is told if he won't stop sucking his thumb the great tall tailor will come with his great sharp scissors and cut them off. As you can predict this is exactly what happens! A close second is the girl who sets herself on fire while paying with matches, with her cats watching on.

In NZ we have quite graphic and emotionally edgy television advertisements about speeding and drinking and driving. I guess they are the modern version of the 1903 Struwwelpeter stories. Reportedly the advertisements do work, and I suspect that children would take some notice of these stories too.

5 stars.

[Fiona · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very odd and unsavoury collection of moral tales for children told in rhyme. Either children are doing unpleasant things to animals, each other or themselves, or they are having unpleasant things done to them. Struwwelpeter, or Shock-headed Peter, is probably the least offensive but I have my own nasty memories of him as my piano teacher foisted him upon me when I was young. I hated the book - I found the picture of him frightening - and I hated the music. It makes me shiver just to think about it!

The version I read is in Open Library (online). It’s not a good translation from the German but the poems’ messages are very clear. They were written in a different era for an audience that was being raised to be seen and not heard. They are far from politically correct but that wouldn’t have been an issue at the time. The illustrations are colourful and detailed. In fact, according to Wikipedia, the book is seen by many as a precursor of comic books.

[Hana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is wonderful in a gruesome sort of way and the illustrations are the best!

My favorite was the tale of the little girl who played with matches, even though her good cats, Minz und Maunz, tried to make her behave. The moral of the story is you should always listen to your cats.



The story of the boy who never looked where he was going was edifying. These days he would be looking at a smart phone, not the sky, but his terrible end would be the same! Be warned!!!




Thank you, Tadiana for introducing me to this gem.

[Kwoomac · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book as a child. While I loved the stories of bad children getting their due ( I had three brothers who were always up to no good. I think I wished some serious consequences would come their way), I mostly remember poring over the wonderful illustrations. I particularly liked the portrayal of animals- loved the rabbit wearing spectacles and toting a gun.(I had forgotten all about this until recently reading Petra's great review. Thanks Petra!)

[SueZ · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this as a child and hated it to the point that if it lay around somewhere in a waiting room, I would cover it with other books so I didn't have to see it.
Maybe it is okay if you read it as an adult, as a childrens book I find it unsuitable.

[Erika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. Had been trying to get it for years and now I finally have! There's lots of reviews of people saying it's horrifying and cruel and with zero psychological value, and I couldn't disagree more! First of all, the stories ain't all that terrible and shouldn't be taken so literally. The author wasn't killing real kids, was he? And there's a lesson behind almost every story. For example, take the one about the girl playing with matches and getting burn. Isn't that a true thing? Doesn't that still happen nowadays? Maybe if parents told their kids the real consequences about their actions there might be less 'accidents'.

Secondly, I think this book is of great cultural and psychological value, a small window to what people taught to their kids back in the 1800s. I immediately started thinking about the Grimm brother's fairy tales, which was published around thirty years before Struwwelpeter. And Daniel Paul Schreber's mental illness case came to mind too! His father (Moritz Schreber) was a physician, university teacher and children's health eminence; his methods were so radical and cruel that they're classified now as part of something called 'Poisonous Pedagogy'. This 'physician' was alive around the time Struwwelpeter was published (actually, his son was born two years before that, so I take it Papa Schreber read it to him quite gladly). It's amazing how it all comes together!

I'm not saying you should tell your kids they're gonna get their fingers cut off if they won't stop sucking them (which reminds me of Little Hans, a 5 year old that developed a serious phobia of horses after his mother told him he would get his penis cut off if he kept touching it. Oh, sweet Germany! Thank heavens Freud came into the picture...). Yet, I do think kids should be treated as beings capable of dialogging and understanding the dangers that come with some actions, even if the consequences are not very Disney-like.

Stop being so outraged, people. Maybe 150 years ahead in the future parents will be freaked out by Dr. Seuss books, who knows?

[Svenja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kult, aber auch ein bisschen krass :D

[Adriana Scarpin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Struwwelpeter escrito pelo psiquiatra germânico Heinrich Hoffmann é um dos livros infantis mais influentes da literatura alemã do século XIX, você encontra inúmeras referências dele na cultura popular do século XX, das quais a mais óbvia deve ser a obra do Edward Gorey.
Apesar de parecer um livro de horror para crianças, a intenção de Hoffmann não era ser didático e nem moralista, era simplesmente divertir as crianças de 3 a 6 anos, no caso, seus próprios filhos.
No Brasil esse livro recebeu o nome de João Felpudo e foi publicado pela Iluminuras.

[Plethora · Rating 3 out of 5]

The tales told here remind me of Mother Goose type of little rhymes, used to teach children to behave or who knows what awful fate they may meet. Some of these have mild punishments for misbehaving, while others are down right horrific. It is likely that these short verses worked well at keeping children out of too much trouble when they were written in 1845, while children may not have truly believed the outcomes they probably didn't want to step out of line either. Children today, overall, are so desensitized and at early ages that most probably wouldn't have nightmares after hearing these, especially if read in that sing songy way one reads rhymes. That being said, if you have a sensitive child, you may want to skip a few of these, I know at a young age my daughter would have not enjoyed a few of these, and honestly even now as a teen she would probably say, really, why, she prefers happy things, well most of us do.

I would give this edition an additional star because it would be a wonderful resource for someone that is learning, our wanting to brush up on, their German or Latin. Each rhyme is presented in all the languages, the third being English. Originally written in German they have become a favorite to be translated into Latin because the easily transform into the medieval poetry pattern. Enough and Latin see only the top of the iceberg as far as translations go, these have been translated into over 100 different languages/dialects. This edition also includes a section at the end where the works have been modernized a bit and presented in English only. These modernizations kept with the original, but mostly looked at changing a few words here and there to use terminology that would make more sense to today's children. Of course, as with any good children's book, colorful pictures can be found accompanying the tales as well.

I also placed a hold on Struwwelpeter: Humor or Horror?: 160 Years Later to see what "they" have to say about Heinrich Hoffman's work. It is ready for me to pick up, so should be able to post review on it in a few days as well.

[Quirkyreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a good little child and mind your manners you might avoid the perils in this book.

[Nadja [BücherRausch] · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nostalgie pur ♡

[Oblomov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heinrich Hoffmann considered the childrens' books he read to his progeny rather lacking, so decided to write his own tales to entertain the youngsters. He named that book Struwwelpeter (or shockheaded Peter) and from what he created I think we can conclude Hoffmann was a tad sociopathic.

As am I, it seems, because I enjoyed this unhinged mess. The images are especially horrifying, including the nightmare on the front cover:



And this apparently child friendly scene:


And this... thing that breaks down your doors to get to your vulnerable thumbs:


All the stories are moral fables warning your crotch goblins against poor behaviour. These 'sins' of the children range from the violent (bullying) to the utterly harmless (sucking your thumb), and even the most minor of infractions recieve a severe comeuppance.

What that punishment is depends on the book version you get. I read two, the first a polyglingual edition, (the one I've selected for this review, which also works as a nice rosetta stone for your unhinged spawn), and a German/English translation, with the images slightly edited by Martyn Jacques (of The Tiger Lillies band). In the former, a few children die, but most suffer humiliation, sore legs or getting wet, the stories ending with a sad, bedraggled, but repentant child.
In the latter version, everyone dies, and there's gore, spurting amputations and a rabbit shooting itself in the face after accidentally murdering a loved one. It's a complete splatterfest.

It might sound like I've given you a clue which is more appropriate for your dear little sprouts, but it's not quite that simple, mainly because of the story of the Bully Boys.
In the violent Jacques version, three bully boys harrass a middle aged gentlemen. A giant then knocks their heads inside out for picking on his neighbours, the end. In the original, they pick on a young African boy. The giant appears and tells the boys to leave the child alone as he 'did not choose his darksome hue'. To punish the boys, he drops them in ink so they look darker than their victim. I don't know if I'd be more uncomfortable explaining that poorly aged anti-racism story to my wee one or the suicide bunny tale, honestly.

If I may make a suggestion, maybe don't let this near your children. I was a creepy little Damien who probably would have loved the Jacques version, but I'd advise you keep the book on a high shelf out of reach, lest you want awkward questions or sobbing, neurotic trauma. You should read it, especially the edited version, because it's just weird and unnerving enough to be a fun, Grimm Brothers romp of colourful and scary images that will stay (most likely unwelcome) in your head for some time.

There's also another edition which I've yet to read by Sanya Glisic, featuring all new artwork, and although it's not really the nightmare fuel of the original drawings, they are definitely, pleasantly messed up :

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A ghastly and horrifying collection of children's stories guaranteed to frighten and scare your children. What else is there to say about a book where children's thumbs are severed as a punishment for sucking them or where little girls are burned to death because they play with match (nothing quite as disturbing as seeing an illustration of two sad cats crying a river of tears beside the charred remains of a disobedient German child).

[Jim Peterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book review for learners of German:

We all know the original Grimm’s fairy tales were more gruesome than the Disney stories we grew up watching. Der Struwwelpeter is another example of a children’s book that today’s parents find shocking even though the book has been read to children for generations. Nearly every German knows this story, so it is culturally significant. But, no, I would not read this to my daughter. You can view it for free on Project Gutenberg (gutenberg.org).

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Next to Max and Moritz, this is the best book to traumatize disobedient children. Those Germans know their discipline. . .

[♡︎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

i enjoyed this way more than i should have

[A. Hadessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mein Vater hatte diesen Spitznamen für mich und ich bin froh dass ich das Gruselzeugs erst als Erwachsene gelesen habe 😅 damals hätte mir das Angst gemacht so überbehütet wie ich aufwuchs.
Mittlerweile finde ich es einfach großartig

[Suvi · Rating 5 out of 5]

So she was burnt, with all her clothes,
And arms, and hands, and eyes, and nose;
Till she had nothing more to lose
Except her little scarlet shoes;
And nothing else but these was found
Among her ashes on the ground.

That's something you don't see very often these days in a children's book. Struwwelpeter has a bit of a reputation of being macabre, but there are actually only three stories where misbehaving children end up dead or mutilated. Doesn't sound very fun, you say? Well, the rhymes make the stories appear more light-hearted, and compared with some of the modern children's books that underestimate children horrifically, I'd rather recommend Hoffmann's wacky story anyday. No matter how hard you scream and misbehave, you're not entitled to break the rules or do what you want. Actions have consequences (the gravity of them you'll never know beforehand), and there's no better way of showing it than through a bit of unpleasantness in a children's book that's read in a safe environment.

The illustrations are part of the fun. I don't usually go for this kind of style, but the bright colours are beautiful and occasional hilarity comes from the expressions of the people and the animals. Crying cats, racist kids dipped in ink, a tailor dashing to cut some thumbs off, and - my favourite - a rabbit turning against a hunter.



This might also get me to brush up my German. I read the story aloud both in English and in German, and the original definitely sounded better. It has a nice rhythm and clang to it, but it also sounds more fun and playful.

[dv · Rating 4 out of 5]

Caso strano e affascinante quello dello Struwwelpeter ideato in occasione del Natale 1844 dal medico di Francoforte Heinrich Hoffmann, esempio di pedagogia "metternichiana" tanto letterale quanto cruenta e crudele (e per questo oggi rifiutata) diventato simbolo di un'epoca e oggetto di parodie, "sequel" e interpretazioni le più diverse. Famoso quanto Pinocchio nelle culture nordiche, da noi è un personaggio misconosciuto e quindi assolutamente da recuperare. Altrove forse è più noto, come sembra dimostrare l'evidente ispirazione per Edward Scissorhands di Tim Burton. Il volume pubblicato da Longanesi nel 1986 riunisce (preceduti da un'utile introduzione) il libro originale e un suo seguito - a firma di diverso autore - in cui Pierino si ravvede.