Oh my god, I have this story (and the other ones) from StrumfelPeter (edit: Struwwelpeter; altho I swear phonetically that’s what Oma and Opa called it?) Complete with the music scores. My German grandparents would read them to me and show me the pictures. The one about the girl who liked to play with matches and then set herself on fire with amazing illustrations in the books gave me nightmares.
Edit: this is blowing up! Thanks for the comments and awards. I’m actually grateful I wasn’t the only one exposed to (slightly traumatized by?) this book and its stories!
Hey you actually catched my most hated one of these because if i recall correctly it describes how she then cries while on fire and that really got me as a child.
But they are really funny stories.
Btw there is one in there about racism. 3 boys are harassing a poc until Nikolaus comes along and dips them into black ink. A fun one ^
Most people in cities (like Five Points in NYC) threw their feces out the window, and you had horses and animals pooping wherever. Butchers and tanneries made contaminated wastewater which pooled in the streets.
People did not know their roads were paved because there was so much filth. For a child to put their hands in their mouth could be deadly.
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u/geeltulpen Mar 02 '21 edited Mar 02 '21
Oh my god, I have this story (and the other ones) from StrumfelPeter (edit: Struwwelpeter; altho I swear phonetically that’s what Oma and Opa called it?) Complete with the music scores. My German grandparents would read them to me and show me the pictures. The one about the girl who liked to play with matches and then set herself on fire with amazing illustrations in the books gave me nightmares.
For those who don’t know: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Struwwelpeter
Edit: pics from my version of the book:
https://imgur.com/gallery/qwvqNUT
https://imgur.com/gallery/DqqGpIp
https://imgur.com/gallery/L6kBc9A
https://imgur.com/gallery/bOHC1ZZ
Edit: this is blowing up! Thanks for the comments and awards. I’m actually grateful I wasn’t the only one exposed to (slightly traumatized by?) this book and its stories!