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Hexlein
Alle sieben Jahre kommen die Hexen in der Nacht und holen ein Kind, das sich als Hexlein eignen könnte. Dann fliegen sie mit ihm nach Hexomanien.
Dort lernt das Kind alles, was ein Hexlein wissen muss: Wie man mit Katzen spricht, wie man zaubert, wie man auf einem Besen reitet und wie man auf Hexenart kocht.
Wenn das Hexlein Heimweh hat, wird es getröstet, und wenn es die Hexenprüfung geschafft hat, wird gefeiert. So lange, bis das Hexlein müde einschläft. Dann bringen die Hexen es wieder in sein Bett zurück. Wenn es in der Früh aufwacht, scheint alles beim Alten zu sein. Aber etwas hat sich doch verändert: War das kleine Menschenkind vorher ängstlich und scheu, so ist das neue Hexenkind mutig und frei!
Dort lernt das Kind alles, was ein Hexlein wissen muss: Wie man mit Katzen spricht, wie man zaubert, wie man auf einem Besen reitet und wie man auf Hexenart kocht.
Wenn das Hexlein Heimweh hat, wird es getröstet, und wenn es die Hexenprüfung geschafft hat, wird gefeiert. So lange, bis das Hexlein müde einschläft. Dann bringen die Hexen es wieder in sein Bett zurück. Wenn es in der Früh aufwacht, scheint alles beim Alten zu sein. Aber etwas hat sich doch verändert: War das kleine Menschenkind vorher ängstlich und scheu, so ist das neue Hexenkind mutig und frei!
26 pages, Hardcover
First published May 25, 2011
5 people want to read
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 24, 2021
Austrian picture-book author and artist Helga Bansch delivers a delightfully witchy adventure in Hexlein, published in Vienna by Jungbrunnen Verlag (Fountain of Youth Publishing Company). Every seven years, the narrator here inform us, the witches steal a child from his or her bed, and bring them back to their own kingdom, Hexomanien. Here the child is put through an intensive witch's training, learning the language of cats, the witchy method of cooking/brewing, the uses of a magic wand, and the skill of broomstick flying. When the child passes an exam, a riotous celebration is thrown, after which the child, having fallen asleep, is returned to his or her bed. Waking as if from a dream, this little Hexlein is subtly transformed...
Although I have enjoyed some of Bansch's work in translation - I Want a Dog! , which she both wrote and illustrated, and Here Comes Rhinoceros , which she illustrated - Hexlein is the first of her books that I have read in the original German. I tracked it down because of my interest in witchy picture-books, and I was not disappointed. The story is engaging, alternating between spooky and heartwarming elements, with plenty of appealing witchy details. The book description tells us that the child selected for this magical training is transformed, and made less timid, a process that is captured by the text on the front and rear endpapers, which describes two very different creatures. At the beginning, we are told that the child is cowardly, frightened of quaking grass and devil's fiddle ("Zittergras und Teufelsgeige"), but at the end we see the child hopping on their broom with a shout, flying through the dark night. I didn't expect to have any trouble with the language here, as I have studied German at the university level, but I found that certain words stumped me - what on earth is a "Angstzibeben?" (a "fraidy-raisin?") - but that was its own kind of fun, as I eventually concluded that some of the vocabulary here is made up, unique to Banch's book, in the same way that certain words in Seuss are unique to his work. Leaving aside textual questions, the accompanying artwork here is immensely appealing, drawing the reader into a magical world. Witches in all sorts of colorful dresses, cats in every hue, fun bottles containing witchy ingredients - all of the quirky little details here were charming. All in all, a wonderful witchy read, one I am glad to add to my "witchy-witches" collection, and one which I recommend to German-speaking picture-book readers seeking either witchy tales in general, or stories about gaining some self-confidence.
Although I have enjoyed some of Bansch's work in translation - I Want a Dog! , which she both wrote and illustrated, and Here Comes Rhinoceros , which she illustrated - Hexlein is the first of her books that I have read in the original German. I tracked it down because of my interest in witchy picture-books, and I was not disappointed. The story is engaging, alternating between spooky and heartwarming elements, with plenty of appealing witchy details. The book description tells us that the child selected for this magical training is transformed, and made less timid, a process that is captured by the text on the front and rear endpapers, which describes two very different creatures. At the beginning, we are told that the child is cowardly, frightened of quaking grass and devil's fiddle ("Zittergras und Teufelsgeige"), but at the end we see the child hopping on their broom with a shout, flying through the dark night. I didn't expect to have any trouble with the language here, as I have studied German at the university level, but I found that certain words stumped me - what on earth is a "Angstzibeben?" (a "fraidy-raisin?") - but that was its own kind of fun, as I eventually concluded that some of the vocabulary here is made up, unique to Banch's book, in the same way that certain words in Seuss are unique to his work. Leaving aside textual questions, the accompanying artwork here is immensely appealing, drawing the reader into a magical world. Witches in all sorts of colorful dresses, cats in every hue, fun bottles containing witchy ingredients - all of the quirky little details here were charming. All in all, a wonderful witchy read, one I am glad to add to my "witchy-witches" collection, and one which I recommend to German-speaking picture-book readers seeking either witchy tales in general, or stories about gaining some self-confidence.
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