Slovenly Peter - Part 2
Great news, guys! I just figured out what y'all can get me for my birthday this year. One of the great shining stars in the field of children's literature alerted me to something I was completely unaware of until this moment in time. By now I'll assume that you've all done your homework, have read Strewwelpeter, and can sing me all the verses to Flying Robert should you so wish to do so.
More news then. First of all, if you happen to be in Frankfurt this summer, I urge you to take a gander at the Struwwelpeter Museum. Even more exciting, however, is the fact that Struwwelpeter was once translated by none other than Mark Twain himself. Hence the birthday suggestion at the beginning of this missive. I know you've all been wracking your brains on what to get me. So definitely read the following article.
posted by fusenumber8 @ 8:01 PM
2 Comments
2 Comments:
I've known Struwwelpeter since I was tiny without any ill effects. In fact, I was called a Struwwelpeter at times by my German mother--- bushy hair, you see. And I love the Twain translation; it isn't as exactly true to the original, but much more lively.
The Struweelpeter Museum is fantastic. You will see parodies and tons more. When I was there last year there were illustrations by children from various places. In Germany it is a classic and parodied constantly. I don't think it is taken as scary much; not in my experience. I even have a little pin from the Museum in my change purse (as I didn't know what exactly to do with it); ask me to show it to you next time I see you!
I use Strewwelpeter every year when I reach the part of Alice in Wonderland where Alice mentions cautionary tales which Hoffman is sort of parodying. (That is, some of the stories are purposely over the top and some are serious. The Inky Boys, I think that is the English title, is a particularly interesting one given the pub date of this book.)
Haven't seen the new Staake version and am not quite sure what I think about his doing it. But I did also very much like the stage production (with the music by The Tiger Lilies). Very cool if very not for impressionable children.
Monica
Well thank you for letting me know about the museum AND the Twain info. I too loved the stage version. When I studied in London in early 1999 I had a chance to see it performed there and missed my chance. You can imagine how happy I was to see it in New York some six years later during its brief run. I've seen numerous graphic novels reference Strewwelpeter too. Perhaps the best of these, "The Doom Patrol" had a long plot based on various characters from the book. Snip snip.
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