Struwwelpeter: Fearful Stories and Vile Pictures to Instruct Good Little Folks [Paperback]

Heinrich Hoffmann (Author), Sarita Vendetta (Illustrator), Jack Zipes (Introduction)

Book Description

Since 1845, millions of parents bought 'Struwwelpeter,' a book that threatened their children with the consequences that befall the disordered and disorderly. Thumbs are sheared off, eyes fall out of sockets, faces are pecked to death and bodies waste to nothing.

Though castigated in recent years for its sadistic approach to child-rearing, 'Struwwelpeter' remains a cultural phenomenon...translated into many languages, the subject of a popular Geerman museum, and the unmistakable influence of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factor,' which also disposes of wretched kids in rhyme.

The Feral House edition includes Sarita Vendetta's macabre illustrations to Heinrich Hoffmann's verse, the entire original edition in color, 'Struwwelpeter-inspired wartime propaganda titled 'Struwwelhitler,' and a revealing introduction by Jack Zipes, an authority on folklore and children's literature, whose journal, 'The Lion and the Unicorn,' devoted an entire issue to Heinrich Hoffman and 'Struwwelpeter.'

Product Details

• Paperback: 124 pages
• Publisher: Feral House (June 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0922915520
• ISBN-13: 978-0922915521
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,156,866 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious! No sugar-coated kids poems these., December 20, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Struwwelpeter: Fearful Stories and Vile Pictures to Instruct Good Little Folks (Paperback)

I only know the German version, but if the translation is at all faithful, it should be a hilarious book of morals for those who are not squeamish! This book is in the old style of "scare 'em out of doing it" didactic tales and details the traumas that ensue when youngsters fail to follow the wise instructions of their elders. From the boy who wouldn't eat his soup and shrivelled away to the tot who wouldn't stop sucking his thumb until a pair of scissors had something to say to him, these twisted poems are the perfect antidote to today's politically "correct" and sugar-coated moral works for children

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bad things always happen to bad children, May 1, 2001

By 

Amanda Reno "Twitch City fan" (Minneapolis, MN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Struwwelpeter: Fearful Stories and Vile Pictures to Instruct Good Little Folks (Paperback)

This edition is definitely NOT for children--the gruesome pictures in the beginning are wonderfully drawn, but would probably disturb young children. Having said that, this is a great book. Dr. Zipes' introduction, which adds immense value, discusses the intended use of this book as an instructor of morality and how 150 years of middle-class Euro-American families have used different approaches to teach socially "correct" behavior to their children.

At the end of the introduction is part of a review left on Amazon in 1997 by a reader of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" (a book compared by some to "Struwwelpeter"). The reviewer attacked the book as glorifying the murder and debasement of children, and even talked about being unable to eat any blue-colored foods for years as a result of trauma caused by the blueberry scene. I think this reader, like many readers of "Struwwelpeter", has kind of missed the point. This book is not about being cruel to children. It's about warning children that if they are horrid, horrid things will happen to them. If you play with matches even though mother tells you not to, you'll get burnt up. If you're dirty and smelly, no one will like you. The bluntness of the consequences of bad behavior just serves to ram the message home. I found it fascinating that the author originally wrote this for his THREE-year-old son, when he decided that all the available books on correct behavior were either too didactic or too sentimental. This is hardly the 19th century equivalent of a slasher film, with blood and guts randomly strewn about--all the bad things in this book could have been avoided, if only the victims would have listened to people who were wiser than them. Whether or not you agree with the social message, it's still a fascinating read.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Struwwelpeter, September 22, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Struwwelpeter: Fearful Stories and Vile Pictures to Instruct Good Little Folks (Paperback)

This is an excellent read. In reference to the advice of most readers of Struwwelpeter to NOT let children read this book, I would like to quote Terry Pratchet: "...it was much earlier than that when most people forgot that the very oldest stories are, sooner or later, about blood. Later on they tookt he blood out to make the stories more acceptable to children, or at least to the people who read them to children rather than the children themselves (who, on the whole, are quite keen on blood provided it's being shed by the deserving. That is to say, those who deserve to shed blood. Or possibly not. You never quite know with some kids.)"
As an educator and once-child, I would reccommend this book to children over the age of 10. Of course this reading experience, like any, should involve a discussion with the parents so they can understand the differences between being a child of the Victorian era and being a child now.
Give kids credit!!