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Otto: The Autobiography of a Teddy Bear
A powerful and beautiful book told first-hand by Otto, a German-born teddy bear who is separated from his Jewish owner, lives through World War II, and is reunited with his original owner 50 years later.
36 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1999
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About the author
Tomi Ungerer
302 books184 followersJean-Thomas "Tomi" Ungerer was a French illustrator best known for his erotic and political illustrations as well as children's books.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 122 reviews
May 6, 2025
"Since our happy reunion I have kept myself busy pounding out this story on my typewriter. Here it is."
Otto: The Autobiography of a Teddy Bear ~~ Tomi Ungerer
Otto, is a teddy bear that begins his life as a gift for David, a young German Jewish boy; Otto becomes a trusted friend of David and his best friend, Oskar and a willing participant in their childhood pranks. Soon, David and his family are sent away to a concentration camp, and Otto is entrusted to Oskar’s care.
The war takes its toll on Oskar’s city and family, and soon Otto is lost. Otto finds himself with a new companion, a U.S. soldier. Otto travels to America, experiencing many different adventures and ultimately landing in an antique store where miraculously he is rediscovered by Oskar and ultimately reunited with David many, many years later.
This brilliant book is formatted as a picture book and therefore looks as if it is meant for young readers, but it is not a book for young children. The accompanying illustrations are dark, detailed and somewhat gory pictures of dead soldiers bleeding next to their machine guns, hands sticking out from the rubble of destroyed buildings and fires burning all around.
Otto arrives in America to a hero’s welcome, but quickly lands in the hands of thugs and is thrown in the garbage. The bleakness of the illustrations continues even with the reunion of the friends.
Otto is a very realistic Holocaust story, and while told from the viewpoint of a teddy bear, it leaves no detail unrevealed. This is the first book I have read by Tomi Ungerer ~~ it will not be my last. I am excited to go the Ungerer journey.
Otto: The Autobiography of a Teddy Bear ~~ Tomi Ungerer
Otto, is a teddy bear that begins his life as a gift for David, a young German Jewish boy; Otto becomes a trusted friend of David and his best friend, Oskar and a willing participant in their childhood pranks. Soon, David and his family are sent away to a concentration camp, and Otto is entrusted to Oskar’s care.
The war takes its toll on Oskar’s city and family, and soon Otto is lost. Otto finds himself with a new companion, a U.S. soldier. Otto travels to America, experiencing many different adventures and ultimately landing in an antique store where miraculously he is rediscovered by Oskar and ultimately reunited with David many, many years later.
This brilliant book is formatted as a picture book and therefore looks as if it is meant for young readers, but it is not a book for young children. The accompanying illustrations are dark, detailed and somewhat gory pictures of dead soldiers bleeding next to their machine guns, hands sticking out from the rubble of destroyed buildings and fires burning all around.
Otto arrives in America to a hero’s welcome, but quickly lands in the hands of thugs and is thrown in the garbage. The bleakness of the illustrations continues even with the reunion of the friends.
Otto is a very realistic Holocaust story, and while told from the viewpoint of a teddy bear, it leaves no detail unrevealed. This is the first book I have read by Tomi Ungerer ~~ it will not be my last. I am excited to go the Ungerer journey.
November 18, 2024
Yes, I have always simply adored Tomi Ungerer as both an author and illustrator, and therefore, I also with all my heart and soul much and sweetly appreciate his Otto: The Autobiography of a Teddy Bear (which was, like most of Tomi Ungerer's picture books, originally seemingly published in German as Otto: Die Autobiographie eines Teddybären). Both Ungerer’s narrative and his accompanying illustrations tell a sweet, emotionally gripping, poignantly satisfying, but also of course generally inherently saddening, even infuriating tale of the Holocaust, with printed words that present themselves as realistic, sometimes humorous, truthful, and also always somewhat hopeful. And even though as an adult, I do tend to find the general textual storyline of Otto: The Autobiography of a Teddy Bear while evocative and horrifying also at least somewhat overly simplistic, for the purpose of introducing the horrors of the Holocaust to young children (and in a picture book format), the author has indeed more than acchieved his intended goals (although personally, I do consider some of Teddy Bear Otto's "adventures" in America, but especially the nasty bullying young Jasmin and by extension Otto experience, a bit gratuitous and almost tacked-on for effect, for potential added discussion and debate value).
Now I have read some reviews of Otto: The Autobiography of a Teddy Bear that at times rather vociferously fault Tomi Ungerer for having presented the Holocaust as a picture book (for even exposing younger children to the Holocaust, to the horrors of the Third Reich, to what happens during times of war). And while I can to a certain point grudgingly understand and even appreciate this philosophy, I have to (and from personal experience at that) majorly and totally disagree with this attitude, as it both seems to artificially shield children and also, more importantly, it can keep children ignorant of the Holocaust, of the horrors of the Third Reich (and in my opinion, that needs to be avoided at all cost). And indeed, with my own case in point, when my family immigrated from Germany to Canada in 1976 (when I was ten years old), my siblings and I had had absolute no previous information given to us about the Holocaust, neither through the adults in our lives (family members, teachers) nor via reading materials, with the both horrible and psychologically potentially damaging result that we were and especially that always a bit overly sensitive I was completely unprepared for the often vicious, vile bullying, the being constantly called a Nazi, and the actual horrors of the Holocaust as they were presented to us, to me (and often basically thrown around like personal accusations).
And yes, my own mother, when I decided to finally confront her as an adult with the question as to why she never taught me, taught us, about the Holocaust when we were younger, she still stubbornly insisted on claiming that it had been better to shield us, to leave us innocent for as long as possible (but I call that way of thinking majorly, utterly unenlightened and potentially damaging, as I would definitely have been more emotionally prepared for the bullying I experienced at age ten and less aghast at the horrors of the Holocaust if I had gently and with care been introduced to the Holocaust, to the atrocities perpetrated by the Nazis as a younger child). And thus personally, I really do have precious little patience with parents, caregivers and teachers who somehow seem to think that the Holocaust should be off limits to and for the picture book crowd (as this is an attitude that does not take children seriously, and furthermore encases them in a coccoon of artificial security that does or at least has the potential of doing more harm than good).
EDITED TO ADD: It has also been brought to my attention (and very much annoyingly so, I might add) that for the English language but especially for the often irrationally puritanical U.S. American market, the illustations of David's apartment have supposedly been "sanitised" (and that in the original German version, as well as in the French version, David has a number of paintings of female nudes gracing his walls). And yes, saliently infuriating fact alone is enough of a sad disappointment for me to now seriously consider only three stars for this here (American) English language version of Otto: The Biography of a Teddy Bear (and indeed, I am really ONLY keeping my original four star rating intact at present because I am pretty well sure that Tomi Ungerer himself most likely did NOT agree with or approve of this visual censorship, and I really do not want the overall rating to be negatively affected) and to also state with both frustration and, yes, even some righteous anger that especially America really does need to grow up and realise that a state of undress is NOT automatically sexuality, that nudity is healthy and that it is actually profoundly unhealthy and potentially damaging to children for the American morality police, for censors and so called do-gooders to keep removing referals to nakedness and even minor depictions of the same from children's literature (including books for the picture book crowd).
Of course, considering that many Americans, many American "parents" are so massively morally allergic to and offended by nudity (and even a casual depiction, a few innocent images of the same) that they would likely refuse to even consider, refuse to purchase a picture book featuring this, the publisher, Phaidon, might have well considered that its proverbial hands were bound and tied, that it basically needed to remove the images of the nudes on David's apartment walls if it was going to be able to successfully market and sell Otto: The Autobiography of a Teddy Bear in the U.S.A. especially (and also not be facing irate parents and special interest groups rabidly baying with calls demanding boycotts and/or official investigations for supposed paedopilia). But the above is not meant in any way as an acceptance on my part of the sad fact that these really in all ways innocent images were likely deliberately redacted and removed, just bit of a point of consideration as to why it might have happened and yes, also some potential understanding of the reasons why Phaidon might have decided to replace the pictures of female nudes on David's apartment walls with a more standard, more innocent and less potentially issue-heavy pictorial offerings (although, in fact, there really are no or rather there should be no issues with David having pictures of female nudes on his wall).
And I guess I had also better see about getting my hands on the German and the French versions of Otto: The Biography of a Teddy Bear, to not only verify the validity of the above information regarding the likely illustrative changes, the illustrative censoring, but also and yes much more importantly, to equally check the German and the French narratives to see if there are perhaps also instances of deliberate narrative omissions, censorship and changes between Tomi Ungerer's original texts and the anonymous English language language translation published by Phaidon (which would in my humble opinion be much more problematic an issue than ANY censoring of the accompanying illustrations could ever be, and which would, indeed, and more than likely make me to immediately change my now four star rating to three stars).
And a few weeks later now and yes, I have now read BOTH the German AND the French language editions of the Otto book, and the pictures in David's apartment have, indeed, been sanitised in the English language version published by Phaidon (the original nudes have been replaced with some standard and mundane portraits and landscapes). And not only is that both UNACCEPTABLE and puritanically silly, I also have to wonder and with some anger why illustrations of dead and dying soldiers are considered acceptable images for young children to see in Otto: The Autobiography of a Teddy Bear, but images of nudity, of artistic nakedness are somehow NOT appropriate. But even more problematic at least for me is the fact that in the BOTH the German original and in the French edition, David and his parents are actually described as having been sent to a Concentration Camp, while in the English language edition, this sadness and tragic fact has been muted and softened to simply state that they were sent to a terrible type of prison (for come on, the translator should be calling the latter what it was, a Concentration Camp, a Death Camp, especially since that is what both the German and the French texts also and abundantly clearly state). And now, and most definitely, my original four star rating for the English (the American) version of Otto: The Autobiography of a Teddy Bear really does need to be lowered to but at most three stars, as I am really and massively annoyed and increasingly angered at these silly and in all ways child-unfriendly, nanny-state like changes (and frankly, I think I am actually being quite generous here because if I went by my personal feelings and anger alone, a two star rating would be the end result).
Now I have read some reviews of Otto: The Autobiography of a Teddy Bear that at times rather vociferously fault Tomi Ungerer for having presented the Holocaust as a picture book (for even exposing younger children to the Holocaust, to the horrors of the Third Reich, to what happens during times of war). And while I can to a certain point grudgingly understand and even appreciate this philosophy, I have to (and from personal experience at that) majorly and totally disagree with this attitude, as it both seems to artificially shield children and also, more importantly, it can keep children ignorant of the Holocaust, of the horrors of the Third Reich (and in my opinion, that needs to be avoided at all cost). And indeed, with my own case in point, when my family immigrated from Germany to Canada in 1976 (when I was ten years old), my siblings and I had had absolute no previous information given to us about the Holocaust, neither through the adults in our lives (family members, teachers) nor via reading materials, with the both horrible and psychologically potentially damaging result that we were and especially that always a bit overly sensitive I was completely unprepared for the often vicious, vile bullying, the being constantly called a Nazi, and the actual horrors of the Holocaust as they were presented to us, to me (and often basically thrown around like personal accusations).
And yes, my own mother, when I decided to finally confront her as an adult with the question as to why she never taught me, taught us, about the Holocaust when we were younger, she still stubbornly insisted on claiming that it had been better to shield us, to leave us innocent for as long as possible (but I call that way of thinking majorly, utterly unenlightened and potentially damaging, as I would definitely have been more emotionally prepared for the bullying I experienced at age ten and less aghast at the horrors of the Holocaust if I had gently and with care been introduced to the Holocaust, to the atrocities perpetrated by the Nazis as a younger child). And thus personally, I really do have precious little patience with parents, caregivers and teachers who somehow seem to think that the Holocaust should be off limits to and for the picture book crowd (as this is an attitude that does not take children seriously, and furthermore encases them in a coccoon of artificial security that does or at least has the potential of doing more harm than good).
EDITED TO ADD: It has also been brought to my attention (and very much annoyingly so, I might add) that for the English language but especially for the often irrationally puritanical U.S. American market, the illustations of David's apartment have supposedly been "sanitised" (and that in the original German version, as well as in the French version, David has a number of paintings of female nudes gracing his walls). And yes, saliently infuriating fact alone is enough of a sad disappointment for me to now seriously consider only three stars for this here (American) English language version of Otto: The Biography of a Teddy Bear (and indeed, I am really ONLY keeping my original four star rating intact at present because I am pretty well sure that Tomi Ungerer himself most likely did NOT agree with or approve of this visual censorship, and I really do not want the overall rating to be negatively affected) and to also state with both frustration and, yes, even some righteous anger that especially America really does need to grow up and realise that a state of undress is NOT automatically sexuality, that nudity is healthy and that it is actually profoundly unhealthy and potentially damaging to children for the American morality police, for censors and so called do-gooders to keep removing referals to nakedness and even minor depictions of the same from children's literature (including books for the picture book crowd).
Of course, considering that many Americans, many American "parents" are so massively morally allergic to and offended by nudity (and even a casual depiction, a few innocent images of the same) that they would likely refuse to even consider, refuse to purchase a picture book featuring this, the publisher, Phaidon, might have well considered that its proverbial hands were bound and tied, that it basically needed to remove the images of the nudes on David's apartment walls if it was going to be able to successfully market and sell Otto: The Autobiography of a Teddy Bear in the U.S.A. especially (and also not be facing irate parents and special interest groups rabidly baying with calls demanding boycotts and/or official investigations for supposed paedopilia). But the above is not meant in any way as an acceptance on my part of the sad fact that these really in all ways innocent images were likely deliberately redacted and removed, just bit of a point of consideration as to why it might have happened and yes, also some potential understanding of the reasons why Phaidon might have decided to replace the pictures of female nudes on David's apartment walls with a more standard, more innocent and less potentially issue-heavy pictorial offerings (although, in fact, there really are no or rather there should be no issues with David having pictures of female nudes on his wall).
And I guess I had also better see about getting my hands on the German and the French versions of Otto: The Biography of a Teddy Bear, to not only verify the validity of the above information regarding the likely illustrative changes, the illustrative censoring, but also and yes much more importantly, to equally check the German and the French narratives to see if there are perhaps also instances of deliberate narrative omissions, censorship and changes between Tomi Ungerer's original texts and the anonymous English language language translation published by Phaidon (which would in my humble opinion be much more problematic an issue than ANY censoring of the accompanying illustrations could ever be, and which would, indeed, and more than likely make me to immediately change my now four star rating to three stars).
And a few weeks later now and yes, I have now read BOTH the German AND the French language editions of the Otto book, and the pictures in David's apartment have, indeed, been sanitised in the English language version published by Phaidon (the original nudes have been replaced with some standard and mundane portraits and landscapes). And not only is that both UNACCEPTABLE and puritanically silly, I also have to wonder and with some anger why illustrations of dead and dying soldiers are considered acceptable images for young children to see in Otto: The Autobiography of a Teddy Bear, but images of nudity, of artistic nakedness are somehow NOT appropriate. But even more problematic at least for me is the fact that in the BOTH the German original and in the French edition, David and his parents are actually described as having been sent to a Concentration Camp, while in the English language edition, this sadness and tragic fact has been muted and softened to simply state that they were sent to a terrible type of prison (for come on, the translator should be calling the latter what it was, a Concentration Camp, a Death Camp, especially since that is what both the German and the French texts also and abundantly clearly state). And now, and most definitely, my original four star rating for the English (the American) version of Otto: The Autobiography of a Teddy Bear really does need to be lowered to but at most three stars, as I am really and massively annoyed and increasingly angered at these silly and in all ways child-unfriendly, nanny-state like changes (and frankly, I think I am actually being quite generous here because if I went by my personal feelings and anger alone, a two star rating would be the end result).
January 5, 2013
A little corner of the Holocaust, seen through the eyes of a teddy bear - very nicely done, with just the right amount of Ungerer's inimitable ironic humor. I think younger children will find it too distressing, but it should be suitable for 6-7 year olds and upwards. We had the French edition lying on our coffee table for several months, and nearly everyone who visited picked it up and read it.
The basic story: Otto belongs to David, a Jewish kid in 1930's Germany. His best friend is Oskar, a Gentile. One day, the SS arrive, and take away David and his family. Just before they hustle him into the truck, David gives Otto to his friend.
The bear goes through various harrowing adventures. He's blown up by an Allied bomb, then found in the rubble by a black GI and taken to the US. He ends up in the window of a junk shop, and is miraculously spotted one day by Oskar, now an old man. He recognizes Otto by the distinctive ink stain on his face, resulting from an accident 60 years earlier, and immediately buys him.
The story is so remarkable that the media get hold of it. That evening, a second miracle happens: there is a phone call from David. Against all the odds, he survived Auschwitz. He saw a newspaper story, and managed to track Oskar down.
At the end, the two childhood friends, both bachelors, have moved in together. The final picture is typical Ungerer. They're sitting together happily in David's rather upmarket apartment. Although David is confined to a wheelchair (Auschwitz has apparently left its mark), that hasn't interfered with his ability to appreciate female beauty. The walls are covered with tasteful but extremely racy nude studies.
It's just occurred to me that this isn't in fact gratuitous. Without the nudes, many adult readers would ask themselves whether Oskar and David are supposed to be gay. As it is, you can at once see that David, at least, is definitely hetero. Ungerer's clever.
_______________________________________
I was shocked and disappointed to find that the English-language edition has censored the illustration on the last page: the sexy nudes have been replaced by anodyne landscapes. All too typical, alas.
The basic story: Otto belongs to David, a Jewish kid in 1930's Germany. His best friend is Oskar, a Gentile. One day, the SS arrive, and take away David and his family. Just before they hustle him into the truck, David gives Otto to his friend.
The bear goes through various harrowing adventures. He's blown up by an Allied bomb, then found in the rubble by a black GI and taken to the US. He ends up in the window of a junk shop, and is miraculously spotted one day by Oskar, now an old man. He recognizes Otto by the distinctive ink stain on his face, resulting from an accident 60 years earlier, and immediately buys him.
The story is so remarkable that the media get hold of it. That evening, a second miracle happens: there is a phone call from David. Against all the odds, he survived Auschwitz. He saw a newspaper story, and managed to track Oskar down.
At the end, the two childhood friends, both bachelors, have moved in together. The final picture is typical Ungerer. They're sitting together happily in David's rather upmarket apartment. Although David is confined to a wheelchair (Auschwitz has apparently left its mark), that hasn't interfered with his ability to appreciate female beauty. The walls are covered with tasteful but extremely racy nude studies.
It's just occurred to me that this isn't in fact gratuitous. Without the nudes, many adult readers would ask themselves whether Oskar and David are supposed to be gay. As it is, you can at once see that David, at least, is definitely hetero. Ungerer's clever.
_______________________________________
I was shocked and disappointed to find that the English-language edition has censored the illustration on the last page: the sexy nudes have been replaced by anodyne landscapes. All too typical, alas.
March 22, 2020
An antique teddy bear reflects on his life in this poignant picture-book from Tomi Ungerer, a master of the form. Made in Germany, the toy bear is given as a gift to a young boy named David, is named Otto, and is shared with David's best friend Oskar. When David and his family are taken away, Otto is given to Oskar, with whom he lives for a time. Then bombs begin to fall, Otto is separated from Oskar, and is eventually found by an American GI named Charlie. Taken to America by Charlie, Otto becomes the companion of Charlie's daughter Jasmin. After a number of other adventures, including being discarded in a garbage can, found by a homeless woman, and displayed in an antique shop window, Otto is reunited with Oskar. Even more surprisingly, he and Oskar are then reunited with David. Together again after so many years, the three friends move in together...
Originally published in German in 1999, this gentle picture-book offers an exploration of the horrors of World War II and the Holocaust, as seen by a creature - a stuffed teddy bear - with no agency of his own, and no ability to do anything but observe the madness around him. Although my first instinct is to conclude that it is not a good introduction to the history of this period for younger children - I think you would need to know something about the events of that time already, in order to understand why David and his family are being taken away, why bombs are being dropped on Oskar and his mother, or why Charlie is over there fighting - perhaps Otto: The Autobiography of a Teddy Bear doesn't need to be. Although the specific linear narrative of WWII and the Holocaust isn't set out in its pages - no explanations are given for the tragedies that Otto witnesses - the stupidity of the friends' separation, the grief of their losses, and the pain of Charlie's wounds, are all ably captured in the story. If explanations for the wider conflict in which all the human characters around Otto are caught up, are not forthcoming, isn't that true to childhood? So many times the adult world, although it impinges in terrible ways on children, is a mystery to those same children, who observe it, but frequently fail to really understand it. The suffering that children must endure as the result of adult actions, on the other hand, is all too real, and immediately comprehensible to other children. Losing first a toy, then a friend, then one's family - all as the result of only partially understand adult politics - these are things that child readers and listeners, whether they have already learned the history or not, are capable of understanding
So perhaps to ask the question, "Does Otto: The Autobiography of a Teddy Bear offer a good introduction to the history of WWII and the Holocaust?," is to miss the point. Perhaps it reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of an aspect of the story that makes it particularly powerful, as a tale meant for children. I'll have to ponder that. Whatever the case may be, there's no question that the story here is a powerful one, and left me moved. I was reminded of another WWII friendship story in picture-book form that I read a few years ago - Amy Littlesugar's Willy and Max: A Holocaust Story , which was likewise poignant. The artwork here is just powerful as the text, although a little different in style from some of Ungerer's earlier work from the 1960s and 1970s. I thought I saw some influences from Maurice Sendak here, particularly in the depiction of the human figures. I'm disappointed, but by no means surprised to discover, from my friend Manny's review (available on goodreads), that the final scene in David's apartment, which contained some nude sketches of women in the original edition, has been altered in this English-language, American edition. There's a layer of meaning (again, explored in Manny's review) that is lost as a result. Leaving that issue aside, this is a book that I would highly recommend... and to whom? To anyone looking for powerful children's stories about the ways that war and wartime atrocities affect children.
Originally published in German in 1999, this gentle picture-book offers an exploration of the horrors of World War II and the Holocaust, as seen by a creature - a stuffed teddy bear - with no agency of his own, and no ability to do anything but observe the madness around him. Although my first instinct is to conclude that it is not a good introduction to the history of this period for younger children - I think you would need to know something about the events of that time already, in order to understand why David and his family are being taken away, why bombs are being dropped on Oskar and his mother, or why Charlie is over there fighting - perhaps Otto: The Autobiography of a Teddy Bear doesn't need to be. Although the specific linear narrative of WWII and the Holocaust isn't set out in its pages - no explanations are given for the tragedies that Otto witnesses - the stupidity of the friends' separation, the grief of their losses, and the pain of Charlie's wounds, are all ably captured in the story. If explanations for the wider conflict in which all the human characters around Otto are caught up, are not forthcoming, isn't that true to childhood? So many times the adult world, although it impinges in terrible ways on children, is a mystery to those same children, who observe it, but frequently fail to really understand it. The suffering that children must endure as the result of adult actions, on the other hand, is all too real, and immediately comprehensible to other children. Losing first a toy, then a friend, then one's family - all as the result of only partially understand adult politics - these are things that child readers and listeners, whether they have already learned the history or not, are capable of understanding
So perhaps to ask the question, "Does Otto: The Autobiography of a Teddy Bear offer a good introduction to the history of WWII and the Holocaust?," is to miss the point. Perhaps it reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of an aspect of the story that makes it particularly powerful, as a tale meant for children. I'll have to ponder that. Whatever the case may be, there's no question that the story here is a powerful one, and left me moved. I was reminded of another WWII friendship story in picture-book form that I read a few years ago - Amy Littlesugar's Willy and Max: A Holocaust Story , which was likewise poignant. The artwork here is just powerful as the text, although a little different in style from some of Ungerer's earlier work from the 1960s and 1970s. I thought I saw some influences from Maurice Sendak here, particularly in the depiction of the human figures. I'm disappointed, but by no means surprised to discover, from my friend Manny's review (available on goodreads), that the final scene in David's apartment, which contained some nude sketches of women in the original edition, has been altered in this English-language, American edition. There's a layer of meaning (again, explored in Manny's review) that is lost as a result. Leaving that issue aside, this is a book that I would highly recommend... and to whom? To anyone looking for powerful children's stories about the ways that war and wartime atrocities affect children.
February 13, 2017
Unlike anything that I have read by Ungerer before and the final book in Tomi Ungerer: A Treasury of 8 Books and perhaps my favourite for how brave and important it. The story told is one in which we follow the life of Otto, a bear made and loved, originally in Germany by David, a Jewish boy caught in the dangerous tide of the Nazi regime. Through Otto we encounter a range of people affected by war and fighting, all of different ages, beliefs, colour and nationality yet all linked through the loss and fear that war brings. It's quite beautiful.
Whilst it does deal with the persecution of the Jews, for me, the originality lay in it showing fear that German children also went through with the bombing of their own cities. Ungerer tells us how many of the events in the book are experiences that he had gone through himself and ends of the pertinent lines: The worse the situation, the more you learn
Whilst it does deal with the persecution of the Jews, for me, the originality lay in it showing fear that German children also went through with the bombing of their own cities. Ungerer tells us how many of the events in the book are experiences that he had gone through himself and ends of the pertinent lines: The worse the situation, the more you learn
March 17, 2011
A teddy bear describes how he got from his first owner in Nazi Germany to his last owner in New York City. Otto's first owner is a Jewish boy, who gives the bear to his best friend Oskar when he is sent to the concentration camps. Oskar loses Otto during a bombing attack on his city. An American soldier finds the bear and takes it home for his daughter. From there the bear has other adventures until... well, it's a surprise ending, and I don't want to spoil it. Nothing in the book indicates that this is based on true events, but I wonder... Nice story. Recommended.
December 17, 2012
Camp Concentration by Disch and Otto by Tom Ungerer
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
A pair made in a sort of hell, I guess, birthday books read back to back.
I don’t understand why Otto is badly written, when the author is obviously capable of writing good text in English. If you want to write some sort of nightmare for children – even worse, a nightmare that really happened – one has to be very careful, I imagine and this isn’t. It uses badly cliched English that is inappropriate for any readership, let alone kids. He describes the bombing of his German town thus: ‘Among the ruins and the fires lay innocent victims.’ What on earth does that mean? That some of the civilians bombed in German towns weren’t innocent victims? Does he mean anybody killed by these bombs were innocent victims? One could conceive of an argument along the lines of all the innocent victims being in concentrations camps, after all – two words ignored by this children’s book. Then there is the general dilemma of writing about such a topic for children: I am uneasy about his treatment, really uneasy about picking such a theme and coming up with a happy ending. Finally, the language is stilted, quite unattractive to read. I don’t understand why a child would want to read it.
Nor, as an adult, would I consider giving it to a child. ‘Mummy why did Oskar let those men take his friend away? Why didn’t his mother help? Why didn’t….If somebody wanted to take my friend away, would you stop them, Mummy?’ ‘Well, no, I wouldn’t, Oskar. It’s better just to watch when that happens and be glad it isn’t happening to you’. Honestly. The more I think about this book, the more I am really unhappy about it.
The pictures are nice.
Unfortunately Camp Concentration has no pictures. It does, however, avoid avoiding the words concentration camp. One can only assume, knowing that Disch considers himself too clever for words – no, not too clever for words, his books are full of his cleverness, little jokes for his friends and so on, exactly the sort of thing I object to when reading clever dicks – one can only assume that moving the word order is a play on his own camp ways as they are expressed in this book, much as it may have other rationales as well. It was explained to me after I finished reading this – and I must confess that my reading became cursory after a while – that I had missed all the clues. Was I supposed to know there were clues and that I was reading a mystery book? If I was supposed to realise this, it was badly communicated to me. If I wasn’t supposed to realise it, we are left with a denouement which is rather like one of those who-dun-its where the author cheats.
There are always flashes of good writing in Disch’s work, but the point is, SO WHAT? There are probably a thousand people on goodreads, and tens of thousands of bloggers out there who produce such flashes, or, amazingly, keep it up. I think Disch is lazy, but because he has such tickets on his cleverness, he doesn’t think that matters. I beg to differ. But then, to be fair, I don’t think cleverness is nearly sufficient to produce a good piece of writing. Not nearly.
It is interesting to consider that we have here two examples of genre writing, both of which consistently fall down in the writing department. Picture books need good pictures and good text is only ever ‘nice if you can get it’. Science fiction is full of examples of authors who have great ideas but who can’t write. Six year olds probably don’t care and nor do science fiction buffs. Unfortunately I am neither.
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A pair made in a sort of hell, I guess, birthday books read back to back.
I don’t understand why Otto is badly written, when the author is obviously capable of writing good text in English. If you want to write some sort of nightmare for children – even worse, a nightmare that really happened – one has to be very careful, I imagine and this isn’t. It uses badly cliched English that is inappropriate for any readership, let alone kids. He describes the bombing of his German town thus: ‘Among the ruins and the fires lay innocent victims.’ What on earth does that mean? That some of the civilians bombed in German towns weren’t innocent victims? Does he mean anybody killed by these bombs were innocent victims? One could conceive of an argument along the lines of all the innocent victims being in concentrations camps, after all – two words ignored by this children’s book. Then there is the general dilemma of writing about such a topic for children: I am uneasy about his treatment, really uneasy about picking such a theme and coming up with a happy ending. Finally, the language is stilted, quite unattractive to read. I don’t understand why a child would want to read it.
Nor, as an adult, would I consider giving it to a child. ‘Mummy why did Oskar let those men take his friend away? Why didn’t his mother help? Why didn’t….If somebody wanted to take my friend away, would you stop them, Mummy?’ ‘Well, no, I wouldn’t, Oskar. It’s better just to watch when that happens and be glad it isn’t happening to you’. Honestly. The more I think about this book, the more I am really unhappy about it.
The pictures are nice.
Unfortunately Camp Concentration has no pictures. It does, however, avoid avoiding the words concentration camp. One can only assume, knowing that Disch considers himself too clever for words – no, not too clever for words, his books are full of his cleverness, little jokes for his friends and so on, exactly the sort of thing I object to when reading clever dicks – one can only assume that moving the word order is a play on his own camp ways as they are expressed in this book, much as it may have other rationales as well. It was explained to me after I finished reading this – and I must confess that my reading became cursory after a while – that I had missed all the clues. Was I supposed to know there were clues and that I was reading a mystery book? If I was supposed to realise this, it was badly communicated to me. If I wasn’t supposed to realise it, we are left with a denouement which is rather like one of those who-dun-its where the author cheats.
There are always flashes of good writing in Disch’s work, but the point is, SO WHAT? There are probably a thousand people on goodreads, and tens of thousands of bloggers out there who produce such flashes, or, amazingly, keep it up. I think Disch is lazy, but because he has such tickets on his cleverness, he doesn’t think that matters. I beg to differ. But then, to be fair, I don’t think cleverness is nearly sufficient to produce a good piece of writing. Not nearly.
It is interesting to consider that we have here two examples of genre writing, both of which consistently fall down in the writing department. Picture books need good pictures and good text is only ever ‘nice if you can get it’. Science fiction is full of examples of authors who have great ideas but who can’t write. Six year olds probably don’t care and nor do science fiction buffs. Unfortunately I am neither.
February 6, 2011
This is one of those beautiful, sad picture books that really, really isn't. This would be a great book to use with kids in a classroom, not so great a book for your four year old to pull off the shelf and demand you read to them. It's the story of a teddy bear as he goes from German toy workshop, through World War II where he watches his (Jewish) family taken away, to surviving bombings (one upsetting illustration shows dead and wounded soldiers and burning buildings) and going home with an American G.I. In the end he is the means by which two childhood friends are re-united. I loved this story and it made me all weepy; it's a wonderful way to introduce older kids to some of the realities of World War II.
July 18, 2025
casi nos echan del museo antes de acabar este librito. adèle me había dicho que era su favorito de pequeña y poder mirar por esa ventanita su infancia, tan ajena a la mía, imaginarme a esa niña con flequillo leyendo historias tristes y esperanzadoras. qué bonito, y qué bonito estar a tu lado leyéndolo y que lo compartas conmigo. te quiero.
May 4, 2024
Magnifique album pour parler de la 2e guerre avec des petits et des plus grands! Très touchant!
February 6, 2022
A stunningly heavy graphic novel for children. This time, war has a happy ending.
December 27, 2016
In some ways, brilliant. But I'm not a fan of the idea of bringing the holocaust home to the picture-book audience; I think even those too old to play with stuffed animals are too young for this. And I find the pictures just plain ugly. I love much of Ungerer's work, but not this.
It's also crowded with discussion points: not only does David go to a camp, but Oskar's father fights with the other Germans, then the American soldier is black and poor, then there are bullies, then a homeless woman, and even in the reunion of David and Oskar we have men who never had families, one of whom is in a wheelchair. Enough already!
It's also crowded with discussion points: not only does David go to a camp, but Oskar's father fights with the other Germans, then the American soldier is black and poor, then there are bullies, then a homeless woman, and even in the reunion of David and Oskar we have men who never had families, one of whom is in a wheelchair. Enough already!
March 2, 2011
This book is for older children because of some of the themes (halocaust, war, bullies) but, the story is touching and of course made me all weepy.
November 17, 2014
A simple story of the Second World War through the eyes of a German teddy bear who suffers much but ends up happy. Perfect for Key Stage 2 studying Second World War.
January 15, 2019
I am very pleased to have been recommended this book- it was a fantastic read. Ungerer has created a friendly and comfortable narrative which makes the topic and themes of war and loss digestible for the reader. The non-fictional story is brought together through the fictional conscious of Otto. A friendly, loyal and endearing character that will bridge children’s imaginations and allow them to relate to their own lives and experiences. This story is one of segregation, unity, friendship and the passing of time and is woven together beautifully by Otto. I would highly recommend.
January 9, 2018
This book was a very good book. It is very emotional, but everything is happy in the end. There are sad parts, but it is an amazing story/
January 9, 2018
It was an amazing historical fiction book with a lot of action! I would definitely recommend it to someone who likes war.
March 10, 2022
O carte emoționantă.
May 23, 2012
I think the idea behind this book is wonderful. I do not, however, feel it was accomplished in the text.
The idea of relating historical events through the eyes of a teddy bear who is first gifted to a young German Jewish boy during the Holocaust, then to his friend when he is taken away by the Nazis, then taken by an American soldier to the United States where he ends up in an antique store is rife with possibilities for teaching compassion and tolerance and the consequences when we turn our backs on that ideal.
I do not think it is a bad thing to read a picture book about the Holocaust with a 4-year-old. I think it is important for children to know that the evil from fairy tales and fiction can exist and even MORE important for them to know that the good in those fictional stories ALSO exists. It is the way in which they learn to be compassionate, caring, contributing members of the world and human existence.
That said, it needs to be done in an age-appropriate way. My issue with the book is not its content. It is the fact that there is little to no character development in the teddy bear character or any of the others who come in and out of the story. The author has told an important, gripping story in a way that bored me completely.
If the book is directed at young children it has missed its mark. They will not sit through a story that has so much bland narration and almost no dialogue to engage the reader.
I could see it being used in middle or high school just as different way to introduce the idea of the Holocaust, but I do not believe those students are going to be pulled in by the narrative. It would have to be supported with other reading materials and media.
I WANTED to love this book. I am disappointed in its execution.
The idea of relating historical events through the eyes of a teddy bear who is first gifted to a young German Jewish boy during the Holocaust, then to his friend when he is taken away by the Nazis, then taken by an American soldier to the United States where he ends up in an antique store is rife with possibilities for teaching compassion and tolerance and the consequences when we turn our backs on that ideal.
I do not think it is a bad thing to read a picture book about the Holocaust with a 4-year-old. I think it is important for children to know that the evil from fairy tales and fiction can exist and even MORE important for them to know that the good in those fictional stories ALSO exists. It is the way in which they learn to be compassionate, caring, contributing members of the world and human existence.
That said, it needs to be done in an age-appropriate way. My issue with the book is not its content. It is the fact that there is little to no character development in the teddy bear character or any of the others who come in and out of the story. The author has told an important, gripping story in a way that bored me completely.
If the book is directed at young children it has missed its mark. They will not sit through a story that has so much bland narration and almost no dialogue to engage the reader.
I could see it being used in middle or high school just as different way to introduce the idea of the Holocaust, but I do not believe those students are going to be pulled in by the narrative. It would have to be supported with other reading materials and media.
I WANTED to love this book. I am disappointed in its execution.
February 16, 2012
"Разбрах, че съм стар, когато ме сложиха на витрината на антикварен магазин".
През безсмъртието на плюша Унгерер разказва проста история за Втората световна война; за жълтите звезди и депортацията, за бомбардировките и руините, за расизма. Последното не го очаквах, очаквах краят на войната да е край на сюжета за насилието, както е обикновено дори в книгите и филмите за възрастни. Радвам се, че не е.
И все пак. Трудно е да дадеш тази книга на детето си, да му покажеш в какъв свят всъщност си го родил, да го направиш съпричастно към страха и вината. Само че без съзнание за войната едва ли ще има усилие за отстояване на мира. Между отделните хора, не само между държавите.
Книгата е хубава, защото, макар за деца, не посочва един лош и един добър, не използва сантименталния си потенциал, за да сочи и така да ражда омраза с обратен знак. Тя не национализира злото - и затова може да се използва като отправна точка за други разговори, които така и не сме провели - например за етническата омраза у нас, за преименуването, за расистките нападения, за които слушаме по новините.
През безсмъртието на плюша Унгерер разказва проста история за Втората световна война; за жълтите звезди и депортацията, за бомбардировките и руините, за расизма. Последното не го очаквах, очаквах краят на войната да е край на сюжета за насилието, както е обикновено дори в книгите и филмите за възрастни. Радвам се, че не е.
И все пак. Трудно е да дадеш тази книга на детето си, да му покажеш в какъв свят всъщност си го родил, да го направиш съпричастно към страха и вината. Само че без съзнание за войната едва ли ще има усилие за отстояване на мира. Между отделните хора, не само между държавите.
Книгата е хубава, защото, макар за деца, не посочва един лош и един добър, не използва сантименталния си потенциал, за да сочи и така да ражда омраза с обратен знак. Тя не национализира злото - и затова може да се използва като отправна точка за други разговори, които така и не сме провели - например за етническата омраза у нас, за преименуването, за расистките нападения, за които слушаме по новините.
June 22, 2016
First off, I love that Ungerer used pencil instead of ink with this story. It gives it a slight sketchy appearance.
But the story is great too. Otto is telling his own story, starting with him being gifted to a Jewish boy during World War II. He survives war, bombs and severe injury, but the story doesn't stop there. Otto recounts all the roller coaster rides he's been through in his life.
I love that this is a story told by a teddy bear and although the topics are serious, it's a great book to share with children.
But the story is great too. Otto is telling his own story, starting with him being gifted to a Jewish boy during World War II. He survives war, bombs and severe injury, but the story doesn't stop there. Otto recounts all the roller coaster rides he's been through in his life.
I love that this is a story told by a teddy bear and although the topics are serious, it's a great book to share with children.
December 14, 2010
The third in Philomel's reissues of Tomi Ungerer's picture books. Anything by Ungerer is worth your time, but this book is particularly poignant. It would make an excellent book for teachers in middle school, high school or college seeking to incorporate picture/texts into their lessons.
I've read some reviews that think the story is too grim for kids. I disagree. I think it looks honestly at history and the human condition and shows the power of love and friendship. Highly recommended.
I've read some reviews that think the story is too grim for kids. I disagree. I think it looks honestly at history and the human condition and shows the power of love and friendship. Highly recommended.
March 5, 2016
This tale about Otto the a teddy bear is set in wartime Nazi Germany. As Otto changes owners, the story shows Jews being taken from their homes and carted away, nights spent in basement bomb shelters, and finally, the war's end in 1945. The story is simple and straightforward not weepy or moralizing. Ungerer just presents the details in words and pictures and leaves it to the children/readers/viewers to draw their own conclusions about those times. This is brilliant.
August 1, 2011
Otto is a German teddy bear who has seen innocence, laughter, war and tragedy. This is a powerful story of hope and friendship.
Why I started it: I was expecting something completely different from the title and the cover. Tea parties and a grape juice.
Why I finished it: The illustrations are simple but the story is extraordinary.
Why I started it: I was expecting something completely different from the title and the cover. Tea parties and a grape juice.
Why I finished it: The illustrations are simple but the story is extraordinary.
January 17, 2012
Tomi Ungerer is always a curious author to read. His books are . . . unusual and often unexpected. This tale of a teddy bear's life as he goes from belonging a boy in Germany at the time of WWII to experiences of the war and finally coming full circle is not for the young reader, but more appropriate for a middle grade audience learning about that time in history.
July 18, 2016
July 2016: I had forgotten just how fraught Otto's life was! Even a bear with a taste for adventure could conclude from this book that there is such a thing as too many adventures.
Oct 2011: A towering epic of teddybear's-eye-view historical fiction.
Oct 2011: A towering epic of teddybear's-eye-view historical fiction.
September 30, 2015
I read this as a child ( I believe it was banned for years ) and love reading it now to my children - they don't yet understand the underlying obvious references to the holocaust but they know it's a book about friendship. A book to hold on tight to.
February 11, 2016
Because the story mentions war and a soldier being hit by a bullet, this story is best for elementary age children.
March 20, 2018
Such a hard life for being a teddy bear. Make us think about the difficulties of life and how much the human being can reach such as terrible behaviors.
November 28, 2017
The story is about a teddy bear named Otto and all the things that happens to him during the war. He was given to a boy named David who was sent away because he was a Jew. Before he left, he gave Otto the bear to his best friend Oskar, and Oskar kept it with him until one day he lost Otto during a bombing. A soldier then picked up Otto and when he did he was shot, but because Otto was there too, Otto saved the man by taking the part of the bullet that would have killed the man. Otto then gets passed on to the soldier’s daughter who gets the bear taken away by bullies. Soon Otto is found hanging in an antique store, where David recognizes him in a store window. Then Oskar and David are reunited because Otto makes the paper.
The story I thought was a roller coaster ride, and the bear plays a significant role throughout the story. I thought that it signified friendship and hope, to me it represents hope friendship because even after all those years of not seeing each other and wondering what happened Oskar and David are able to reunite because they shared those memories with Otto. I also thought it represented hope because the soldier can survive the gunshot wound, and upon his return home he gives his daughter the bear. I thought everything about this book is wonderful, and the illustrations bring everything happening in the story to life.
The story I thought was a roller coaster ride, and the bear plays a significant role throughout the story. I thought that it signified friendship and hope, to me it represents hope friendship because even after all those years of not seeing each other and wondering what happened Oskar and David are able to reunite because they shared those memories with Otto. I also thought it represented hope because the soldier can survive the gunshot wound, and upon his return home he gives his daughter the bear. I thought everything about this book is wonderful, and the illustrations bring everything happening in the story to life.
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