283 – An Old-Fashioned Love Story

So I mentioned Stewwelpeter the other day and I feel like I should go a little more in-depth into that. for those of you who haven’t heard of it, Strewwelpeter is an 1845 German children’s book written by psychiatrist Heinrich Hoffman. Originally titled (somewhat ironically) Funny Stories and Whimsical Pictures with 15 Beautifully Coloured Panels for Children Aged 3 to 6, the book is a collection of moralizing stories about naughty children who meet horrifying fates — like Pauline who burned to death after playing with matches, Kaspar who starved to death for refusing to eat his soup, and thumb-sucking Conrad who was mutilated by an insane tailor. Modern readers often like to point to Strewwelpeter as proof of either the brutality of Germans or the prudishness of Victorians, but the reality is a little more complicated; Hoffman’s original title, plus most outside evidence of his life and personality, seems to indicate that the book was intended to amuse rather than terrify children, in the same way that modern kids are amused rather than scared when a boulder falls on Wile E. Coyote*. There’s also some debate about how many people actually bought Strewwelpeter to read to their kids — the biggest audience for the books seems to have been Victorian hipsters who liked it ironically.

Well. Anyway. Strewwelpeter. The title character of the book is a filthy moppet who never washes himself, combs his hair or trims his nails (Strewwelpeter is often translated as either shock-headed Peter or slovely Peter). Hoffman, however, was not much of an artist and his illustration of Strewwelpeter looks more like a weird sad-faced dwarf with needles shoved under his fingernails than a child. Even though I doubt many modern German kids read Strewwelpeter, he’s still something of an iconic image of kids’ literature in Germany, so you’ll often see him appearing in playground murals or toyshop signs. I lived in Germany for a few years when I was a kid and I remember always being terrified whenever I saw him. Part of it was that I had no idea who he is, because I wasn’t familiar with the book. All I knew him as was the weird picture that COULD BE ANYWHERE WHERE YOU LEAST SUSPECT IT. Like, you go to a restuarant for a nice meal and the waiter hands you the kids’ menu, decorated with all sorts of jolly copyright infringing cartoon characters like Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse and Asterix (this is Europe, remember) and OH MY GOD JESUS STREWWELPETER THERE HE IS AAAAAAA. So yeah, I lived my childhood years in Germany in a state of perpetual existential angst over that. Tune in next time when I’ll tell you how I was scarred by the bunyip in Dot and the Kangaroo!

Oh and while I’m at it, you know what else is a delightfully scary book for kids? The Witches, by Roald Dahl! My friend The Hungry Reader just did a review of The Witches for his special Not a Creature was Stirring mouse-related Christmas special! In fact, you know that friend that he mentions at the end of the vide? That’s me! XD You should watch the rest of his videos too, they’re all pretty entertaining …and pretty interesting if you have any passion for kids and young adult lit!

* I say most people my parents tell me that I used to cry like a baby whenever the coyote was injured because Jesus Christ that poor guy!

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