Audiobook · read by volunteers
Struwwelpeter (version 2)
Heinrich Hoffmann (1809–1894)
Read by Roman Buettner · 1 chapter · 17 min
About the book
Ever heard of a boy who sucks his thumb until a tailor arrives with a very large pair of scissors? Of a girl whose love of matches ends badly? Of a restless boy who will not sit still at table? Struwwelpeter, or Slovenly Peter, collects these cautionary tales in bouncing verse, with illustrations that burned themselves into the memory of generations of readers. Written by a German doctor for his own small son, it is full of ridiculous cruelty and black humour, and it is often read tongue in cheek. This is a second LibriVox reading of the book, in a single track of just under twenty minutes. Whether you know the stories already or are meeting them for the first time, it makes for a lively, slightly alarming listen, good for a rainy afternoon.
Introduction
Heinrich Hoffmann (1809-1894) was a Frankfurt physician and the author of Struwwelpeter, first published in the 1840s. The story of its origin is well known: looking for a picture book to give his son for Christmas in 1844, he found nothing he liked in the shops, and bought a notebook in which he wrote and drew his own tales. Listening, you lose the illustrations, but the verse carries the stories without them, since the rhymes and the comic exaggeration do most of the work.
Struwwelpeter, or Slovenly Peter, is an illustrated collection of humorous children's poems describing ludicrous and usually violent punishments for naughty behaviour. The characters are memorable: the messy boy of the title, the thumb-sucker, the girl who plays with fire, the picky eater. The verses are lively and easy to remember, which helps to explain why the book has lasted. It is somewhat notorious for its perceived brutal treatment of the erring children, but it has been influential on many later children's books, most notably Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Some readers now see it as an early example of black comedy for young audiences. This is a second LibriVox version of the book, which is why it carries the label version 2. It has a single chapter, Merry Stories and Funny Pictures, and lasts just under twenty minutes. One volunteer reads the whole text.
If you have already heard the first recording, you may like to compare the two, since a different reader shapes the rhythm and the humour in a different way. If you have not, either one is a good place to start.
It is a short, strange classic of children's literature.
Public domain
Heinrich Hoffmann died in 1894: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text