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.