Magical characters, scary stories – Otfried Preußler's characters have inspired generations.
Preußler was born 100 years ago - his stories hardly age.
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Books take you into other worlds - reading or reading to children stimulates their imagination, especially.
When children are read to, they also learn to read themselves more quickly.
Fairy tales and other children's books are particularly suitable for reading together.
One person who has accompanied several generations in terms of imagination and the joy of reading is the author Otfried Preußler.
Otried Preußler was a perfectionist with his works
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Children's book author Otfried Preußler in 1988. Among other things, he wrote “Robber Hotzenplotz”.
© Teutopress/Imago
The written word usually appears in black and white.
Tonalities and dynamics are left out - a difficulty, the storyteller Otfried Preußler found, reports
NDR
.
A documentary by NDR
shows exactly how difficult it was for Preußler
- his youngest daughter Susanne Preußler-Bitsch speaks there.
“We also have a lot of manuscripts that have not been published because they were not sufficient for him.” This shows how carefully Preußler worked on his works.
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“Robber Hotzenplotz” – has been inspiring since 1962 and in 34 languages
Two children overpower a sneaky but somehow lovable robber.
“Robber Hotzenplotz” first appeared in public in 1962.
Since then, the story has sold millions of copies and been translated into 34 languages.
Theater adaptations, radio plays and the big screen also emerged from Preußler's ideas.
Kasperl and his friend Seppel set out to catch the wild robber Hotzenplotz, who stole grandmother's coffee grinder.
Unfortunately, they end up in the hands of the robber Hotzenplotz and the evil magician Petrosilius Zwackelmann, because robbers can't be caught that easily.
Will the two friends manage to free themselves from their captivity?
Information/Thienemann-Esslinger
Otfried Preußler “The Robber Hotzenplotz”
2020, Thienemann Esslinger, ISBN: 978-3-522-18558-5
Price: 15 euros, 120 pages (different format)
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Are you interested in other children's books?
Maybe “Anouk and the Mystery of Christmas” by Hendrikje Balsmeyer and Peter Maffay is something for you?
Slightly older fans can also pick up the Ink World sequel “The Color of Revenge” by Cornelia Funke.
Ten books you should read to your children
Ten books you should read to your children
Preußler in criticism?
whitewashing the world
Preußler's stories have a happy ending - an approach for children that can give them courage.
However, he was also criticized for it.
Tilman Spreckelsen writes for the
FAZ
and recently published “Otfried Preußler: A Life in Stories”.
Spreckelsen classified the criticism.
A statement from Preußler helped him: “One day it will be the children of today who will have to bear the responsibility of adults.
Then they will need strength and courage to face life.
And the ability to laugh.
And imagination, imagination above all, without whose help no problems can be solved, not the small ones and especially not the big ones." You shouldn't paint the world as rosier than it is, but you also shouldn't deny that there are positive forces, it continues.
Category list image: © Teutopress/Imago