Erich Kästner’s Books- Well Loved Stories in German & English

Sitting in the darkened theater surrounded by other kids, the obligatory bucket of popcorn on my lap, I stare up at the screen enjoying Haley Mills and Haley Mills fool parents Brian Keith and Maureen O’Hara, to bring them back together in the 1960s version of The Parent Trap. At the time, I had no idea that the original story,…

Rübezahl! The legendary Silesian Lord of the Mountains!

A small scale disaster hit our house last week in the form of a flood (ok, it was just an unnoticed spill). The only thing really wrecked? A box of my old childhood Albums. As I pulled them out one by one, it broke my heart a little bit. Mold had already started to set in. Granted, they weren’t in…

What’s the most Scary German Children’s book or Story?

Growing up it never occurred to me that the books and Fairy Tales I read were that different, but as it turns out the biggest difference between growing up with American Parents and German Parents can be found in the stories we are read/told as children. My American friends grew up hearing about Cinderella being dressed by mice… my German friends…

German Nursery Rhymes and Children’s Songs

My mother didn’t recite Mother Goose to me when I was a child. I got the German Nursery Rhymes and songs  that she grew up with. “Alle Meine Enten”, “Hoopa Hoppa Reiter”, and “Backe backe Kuchen”. Funny thing, when I had children, I mainly sang and clapped my way through the rhymes of my childhood. Honestly though, it truly is…

Die Häschenschule A Day At Bunny School -A German Easter Classic

If you are of a certain age, you probably had a storybook about a Rabbit School on your bookshelves as a child. In 1924 Albert Sixtus published a book about a bunnies going school called Die Häschenschule. 95 years later, this classic book is still charming children all over Germany.  For Easter in 2019, the Esslinger Verlag (Esslinger Publishing company)…

Hanni and Nanni – Our Favorite Twins for Over 50 Years!

  Of all the nicknames I had growing up, my favorite was bestowed on me by my German family, “Leseratte” (Reading Rat). Probably because every time I went to Germany, I spent a LOT of time reading. Why would I spend so much time with my nose in a book in GERMANY? Well, the family was in Farm Country, and…

Max and Moritz- Behind Wilhelm Busch’s Bad Boy Stories

In the end, two boys are ground up by the Miller in the giant flour mill, and then eaten by ducks. Sounds like the latest horror film to come out of Hollywood doesn’t it? But this is the ending of Wilhelm Busch’s “Max und Moritz: Eine Bubgeschichte in sieben Streichen” (“Max and Moritz : A Boyish Story of Seven Pranks”).…

The Pied Piper of Hamelin Story-800 Year Mystery Wrapped in Fairy Tale

While visiting Germany many years ago I had to visit the town of Hameln. You see, when I was growing up, one of my favorite records had the Rattenfänger von Hameln story… the Pied Piper of Hamelin Story. As a child, the idea of all those kids being snatched up because the town fathers didn’t want to pay the exterminator’s…

The Gingerbread for Liberty Book- The Story of a German American Hero during the Revolution

Gingerbread for Liberty!: How a German Baker Helped Win the American Revolution Gingerbread for Liberty book a beautifully illustrated children’s book by Mara Rockliff is based on the true story of Christopher Ludwich, a German Baker who arrived in America as a young man. Ludwich was known for his delicious Gingerbread, and his motto “no one goes hungry if I…

Your Favorite German Children’s Books, in English and German!

I grew up reading German books for children in German. Sadly, my kids never learned German (read why HERE), and I was sad that they would never get to enjoy the stories that were so familiar to me. Now I’m finding more and more German Children’s Books in English… so, finally, my kids will get to read about Die Kleine…

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