Customer Reviews

Struwwelpeter and Other Disturbing Tales for Human Beings: A BLAB! Storybook

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Bob Staake, Struuwelpeter and Other Disturbing Yet Cautionary Tales by Heinrich Hoffmann (Fantagraphics, 2006)

First off: it doesn't matter that this is a book of nursery rhymes one bit. When you see the imprint "Fantagraphics" on a book, you're not buying something to read to the kiddies to put them to sleep, unless you want to scar them for life with soul-destroying nightmares you can't even begin to imagine, being an adult. Not that Hoffmann's tales were ever really appropriate for the preschool set, but let's remember this guy was writing in the same country whence came the Brothers Grimm, eh? Bob Staake has taken these twisted (and famously politically incorrect) tales, reprinted them faithfully, and set them to pictures that do justice to the rather perverse nature of the tales themselves.

This is one of those reviews where my ignorance of art history is going to come trumpeting down the middle of the lane, so I'll just come right out and say that while Staake's wonderful pieces put me in mind of, well, something, I have no earthly idea what that something is. So imagine I'm telling you that Staake's work is evocative of the something period of artist X, nod your head sagely, call me an idiot, and then buy the book and just pretend you knew what I was talking about all along, okay? Because trust me, if your sense of humor is as warped as mine, you want a copy of this book. It could have been a bit longer, but hey, Staake only had so much source material to work with. Can't fault him for that, can we? What's here is solid from beginning to end, as it is with pretty much every Fantagraphics title I've picked up. ****

This is a book for adults. It's a great collection of old children's stories that aren't exactly fit for children today, but it is arranged cleverly as a children's book and beautifully (and creepily) illustrated. If your older child is of the right personality they will get a laugh at it too. Great gift for parents.

I am an admirer of Bon Staake's stylized artwork, and this is what drew me to STRUWWELPETER initially. These simultaneously harsh and funny stories originate from 19th century Germany, and are fondly remembered in the U.S. by many German immigrants.

This book's cover provides a good hint as to its contents: It should be pointed out that I have a soft spot for gallow's humor that other adults may not share. As a middle-school teacher and children's book author, I think that having an adult read this book to younger kids in order to process through them would be the most sensible approach. Older kids and adults can just read the stories to themselves!

In fact, this book may be considered by some to be a "children's story for adults." Do you really want a six-year-old to read the story about Pauline playing with matches, or Peter getting his thumbs cut off by the tailor (for sucking on them)? Depends on the six-year-old, I suppose. :) Bravo to Bob Staake for keeping these stories alive, and for his extraordinary illustrations.

This book is a great version of the original German stories, teaching great life lessons to children. It's not for every child since it can be quite dark and scary, but the lessons learned are very important. My daughter enjoys it being a fan of slightly scarier material like ghost stories.

Der Struwwelpeter (and Other distrubing Tales for Human Beings) is such an amazing tribute to the original German storybook. I had found an older copy of the odd children's book and was wondering if there was a more current (and English!) edition. My copy was in German only, and since I don't speak the language, I had to decipher the book based on the incredible illustrations. The new English edition is amazing and lends a fresh take on the fantastic stories. The new illustrations are simply a modern representation of the original, and are done with incredible creativity to capture the eyes of today's youth.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys classic (or fractured) fairytales. The text rhymes, and each story has a moral a the end. This is not just a children's book - anyone will like it!

As a child of German immigrants, I was raised on the Struwwelpeter book (in German of course) and found this and had to have it in English. It may be harsh in some eyes, but this is a book we must remember was read to children to teach them how to listen to their parents and not misbehave. You may say this is not for children, but you have to wonder if your children will behave better if you read it to them....

I bought this for my father as he owns a copy of the original and is a big fan. The art in this new version is sharp and interesting to look at and the translation is inspired. In doing this, the grotesqueness is turned down quite a bit which is the appeal of the original.

Folks, I've seen the reviews here and recently in the NY Times saying this book is not for kids. All I can say is that my 4-year-old loves it and makes me read it to her again and again. Maybe some kids will be freaked out, but I urge parents to consider whether their kid might be made of hardier stuff. I think we often underestimate our children -- there is a reason these stories have endured. A little girl gets burned to a cinder playing with matches? What parent would not want their kids to learn this lesson, when it happens in real life all the time! As for the thumb-sucker, perhaps it's just coincidence that my daughter managed to kick this stubborn habit soon after we bought this book! The pictures are fantastic and the stories teach real lessons. Yes, parents should read it and discuss it with their children. But they should not avoid it. I recommend this book as highly as possible.

Well, duh, you're probably thinking. It should be obvious that this is not for children. I mean, look at the cover. It's creepy and disgusting.

And that's no disrespect to the illustrators; the intention here is to be creepy and disgusting so that a certain husband - who shall remain nameless - won't blindly purchase it for his sweet seven-year-old daughter, who will then proceed to have nightmares of monsters cutting off her thumbs.

"And then there was blood everywhere, just spurting out of my hands, Mommy."

"No, sweetheart, your thumbs are fine."

"BUT I DREAMED IT!"

Etcetera. Etcetera. Etcetera.

To be fair, I usually have a sense of humor about things like this and can appreciate what the book was intended to be. My sense of humor, however, is on strike until I'm no longer suffering from sleep deprivation. So right now, I really, really, really hate this book.

The three stars are in honor of the sense of humor I used to have, and because the copy and illustrations are things I probably would have appreciated laughing over with my kids say, 10 years from now. But if you are a husband considering buying this for your small children, you might want to think again. Please allow my husband to serve as your cautionary tale, because he's not hearing the end of it until I get a full night's sleep, and it looks like that's gonna be a while...