As of: February 9, 2024, 1:00 p.m
By: Sven Trautwein
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Kirsten Boie publishes the fourth and final volume of her “Sommerby” series.
A farewell with a tiny tear in the eye.
Half a decade ago, Kirsten Boie first took her readers to Sommerby.
Now the journey to Grandma Inge ends on the Baltic Sea, far away from modern hustle and bustle.
In 2018, in the book series of the same name, the siblings Martha, Mikkel and Mats went on their first trip to their unknown grandmother Inge in Sommerby on the Baltic Sea to spend a rather involuntary vacation there.
Surprisingly, it was an unforgettable summer.
The children’s book series ends with “It’s most beautiful in Sommerby”.
Kirsten Boie ends her popular children's book series with “It's most beautiful in Sommerby”.
© Arne Dedert/dpa/Oetinger (montage)
Since the first volume, “A Summer in Sommerby,” the siblings have returned every holiday season.
Now it is time for her last visit: The Hamburg writer Kirsten Boie published the fourth and final volume of the “Sommerby” series on Friday by Oetinger-Verlag – “It is most beautiful in Sommerby”.
“Sommerby” Volume 4 by Kirsten Boie: Like in real life
With this volume the four seasons are complete.
“I can now say goodbye to “Sommerby” – albeit, of course, with a tiny tear in my eye,” said Boie in a statement to the German Press Agency.
The fourth volume is rich in emotional and profound nuances.
Just like in real life.
About the content: The three siblings are now spending the Easter holidays with their often somewhat distant grandmother on the farm.
The relationship between her mother and her grandmother remains tense, but neither of the two stubborn people seems willing to talk to them.
This also puts a strain on the grandchildren.
Each of them brings its own themes.
The youngest, Mats, helps a runaway, the middle one, Mikkel, learns a lot about feelings from the rabbit Senta and the eldest, Martha, goes through the emotional rollercoaster of a young long-distance relationship.
Mats, Martha and Mikkel would much rather go to Sommerby during the Easter holidays than to Gomera with mom and dad.
Mikkel can hardly wait to get to Grandma Inge's house: she promised him a surprise!
One that gets bigger the longer you wait for it.
Mats has a secret: he has hidden a princess in the shed!
She's not particularly nice, but she's a real princess who urgently needs to hide from her evil stepfather.
Blurb/Oetinger
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Kirsten Boie “Sommerby” series: German version of Lindgren’s “Bullerbü”
The fourth volume about life in Sommerby - the German counterpart to Astrid Lindgren's "Bullerbü" - seems light and profound at the same time.
Ideal for reading to older primary school children or for reading aloud.
The story encourages dialogue in many ways.
Boie has Martha say at one point: “It's always better to talk about things and not to put everything off out of sheer fear and stay silent, and then in the end you have to say it and everything is still the same “Much more terrible than it would have been if it had been explained straight away.”
The siblings learn – each in their own way and in an age-appropriate manner – to stand up for their own feelings, thoughts and beliefs.
Boie touches on many topics that children and parents will be familiar with from their everyday lives - whether gender roles, vegan life, the impact on regional agriculture or stressed parents.
On 320 pages, readers are once again taken into small and large adventures on the Baltic Sea - including Low German.
Kirsten Boie “It is most beautiful in Sommerby” – Sommerby Volume 5
2024 Oetinger, ISBN-13 978-3-751-20392-0
Price: Hardcover €15, 320 pages
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Kirsten Boie: About the author
The German children's and young adult book scene is hard to imagine without Kirsten Boie.
She is one of the most respected, productive and multifaceted authors in this field.
She was born in 1950 in the Hanseatic city of Hamburg, where she also studied German and English.
A scholarship from the University of Hamburg enabled her to spend two semesters at the University of Southampton in Great Britain.
After passing her first state examination in German and English, she received her doctorate in literary studies with a thesis on Bertolt Brecht's early prose.
Her achievements in the field of children's and youth literature were recognized in 2019 when she was awarded honorary citizenship by the city of Hamburg.
In addition to “Sommerby”, her most popular children’s book series include “We Children from the Möwenweg” and “The Little Knight Trenk”.
Kirsten Boie has now published well over a hundred books that have been translated into many languages.
They testify to her impressive literary range, her deep empathy and, above all, her social commitment.
In 2007 she received the special prize of the German Youth Literature Prize for her life's work.
In 2015 she founded the Möwenweg Foundation with the aim of providing support to children in Swaziland.
Kirsten Boie became patron of the “Reading Bag” in 2023.