Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Flying class rooms, detectives, crocodiles and witches. Favorite childhood books.

Hallo meine Lieben,


I am a huge huuuuuuuuge bookworm and I love to talk about books. I think you have already realized that.  And you all know how much I love crime novels but I have never talked about the favorite books of my childhood  I need to change that. Because they mean a lot to me and they are a huge part of who I am. 


So here is a list (I love books and making lists!) of the books that accompanied me in my childhood years. I have read all of them in German but I am sure there's an English edition of some of the books.


1. Die kleine Hexe and Der Räuber Hotzenplotz by Ottfried Preußler


I remember that I always had a poster of Die kleine Hexe (The little witch) in my bedroom. I went to see the stage play with my parents and they bought me the poster there. I loved it. 
It is the story of a little witch who lives with her raven Abraxas in a little house in the woods. her biggest wish is to fly on her broom with the adult witches on the Blocksberg.
Der Räuber Hotzenplotz (The robber Hotzenplotz) is the adventure of Kasperl and Seppel who try to find the Räuber Hotzenplotz who stole Kasper's grandmother's coffee mill.






2. Fünf Freunde by Enid Blyton


I guess everybody knows The Famous Five and their adventures. It's the story about George, Julian, Dick, Anne and Timmy the dog and they solve mysteries. 
I have so many tapes and books of them, I think I know all their stories. I already liked crime stories as a child. :)






3. Das alte Haus by Wilhelm Matthießen


This book is a collection of several short stories and it is from 1923. All the stories start with "Es war einmal..." (Once upon a time) and they are oriented at the seasons. My favorite is the story about the Kartoffelkönig (the potato king).






4 TKKG by Stefan Wolf


TKKG stands for Tim, Karl, Klößchen and Gabi. 4 friends who are hobby detectives and solve crimes together. I know, again. They also have a dog, he is called Oskar. My lovely Miss Sugar Shack reminded me of them! Thank you, Liebes! They are definitely my childhood heroes. I also wanted to be a detective and solve crimes with my dog and friends. 








5. Die Drei Fragezeichen


I already talked about them on Monday, so you can read the post here.






6. Frieder series by Gudrun Mebs


The first book of the series is called " "Oma" schreit Frieder". It's the story about the 6 year old Frieder and his hilarious grandmother. I loved their adventures because I also had a very close relationship to my grandmother Anneliese. She had a kidney disease and died when I was 9. That was the first terrible experience in my life. So after she died I still loved to read those books because they reminded me of her.








7. Astrid Lindgren


Astrid Lindgren was a Swedish writer and I love ALL her books and stories. She was such an awesome writer and I think every kid should know her stories. I can't even tell you what's my favorite. Pippi Langstrumpf (Pippi Longstocking) is definitely one of my heroes. I wanted to be like her. She lives in a house with a horse and a monkey, she is unbelievably strong, can do what she wants and her father is a pirate. She's awesome. I also love the Michel-series. Michel lives on a farm and fools around all day. So cool. And Ronja Räubertochter! Another amazing character. I definitely recommend watching the movies. I own the whole Astrid Lindgren collection and watch them over and over. 



By the way: Pippi's full name is Pippilotta Viktualia Rollgardina Pfefferminz Efraimstochter Langstrumpf. I am a little jealous because this is the most amazing name EVER.




8. Das fliegende Klassenzimmer by Erich Kästner



I think I have watched the movie at least 50 times! So good! Das fliegende Klassenzimmer means "The flying class room" so you can imagine how cool it is. I can't really tell you the whole plot because it consists of so many single episodes but it is a story about friendship, courage and family. A must read and see!




9. Vorstadtkrokodile by Max von der Grün


"The suburb crocodiles" is a children's gang and you have to pass a test of courage to become a member. It is a story about friendship and the integration of disabled people. I think I have watched the movie every single Sunday when I was a child. And I still own the tape (!!). 






10.  Spürnase Jakob Nachbarkind by Christine Nöstlinger


Family Zoch inherited an old villa. They would love to move in but they don't have enough money for the renovations. Jakob is in love with one of the Zoch daughters and convinced that there must be some money hidden in the old house. The search begins. 
I recomment to read all Nöstlinger books! They are all fantastic! And I love the fact that all stories takes place in Vienna and lots of words are in Viennese. So wonderful!












....and I have just realized that my list is endless. There are so many more books that I love. I still haven't talked about Der Struwwelpeter, Momo, Urmel aus dem Eis, Der kleine Vampir and Rennschwein Rudi Rüssel yet.
The fantastic thing is that I still have all the books from my childhood.
And now I want to read all of them again! :)
What are your favorite books from your childhood?
Have a lovely Wednesday!

16 comments:

  1. Ah, I love a lot of these books. Just read that "Räuber Hotzenplotz" was written 50 years ago. Can't believe it. But I loved "die kleine Hexe" and also "das kleine Gespenst" by Ottfried Preußler.
    And I am also a fan of Erich Kästner, love "das fliegende Klassenzimmer" or "das doppelte Lottchen", and Astrid Lindgren's "Pippi Langstrumpf" and "Michel aus Löneberga".
    Just as you said, this list, of great "older" books for children is endless. But sometimes I'm not sure if the kids nowadays would read them.
    But I love them and sometimes I really miss my childhood!

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    1. Yeah, me too! Childhood was awesome! :)
      And yes, most of the books are classic and I really hope that kids read them nowadays! I love all of them so much and they never lost their fascination!

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  2. LOVE Pippi Longstocking :D I always read the Dear America books. They were like diaries from pre-teens from different eras.

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    1. That sounds, interesting! I'll have to check them out!

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  3. I LOVE PIPPI LONGSTOCKING!!!
    And I totally loved the American Girls books. And Dear America, just like Breenah.
    I wish I could find German books in America!!

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    1. I have never heard of American Girls! I need to check them out!
      A couple of weeks ago I went to a used book sale and they had 20 or 30 German books. I was so surprised! But I am really disappointed that you don't find many German books on Amazon etc. And the books they have are much more expensive!

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  4. The only character I recognized was pippi longstocking! I never realized there were so many German childrens books that differed! Here in Ireland they have a lot (But its mostly English stuff and stuff that we would hvae had in America as well!) I too loved to read as a child! There are still some of those books that I would pick back up today!!

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    1. I agree, I still want to read all these books again! And Pippi Longstocking is still my hero. :) I love her books and movies!
      And it's kind of sad that all the German children books are not famous outside of Germany. :)) Haha. They are definitely worth reading!

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  5. Not all of these books are familiar to me but they sound like wonderful books to have memories of and to have had in your childhood. I have a growing collection of children's books that I've picked up every time I travel, I hope to pass them onto my kids one day :)

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    1. That's so wonderful, Vanisha! I still have children's books from my Mom and they are wonderful memories and mean the world to me!

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  6. (btw i like your blog makeover!)

    i used to love pippi as a kid! english versions of course!!! its so funny being in norway now b/c she is huge there still and its all in swedish so i cant understand it! but still makes me love it :)

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    1. Thank you, Megan! :)
      I am sure Pippi in Swedish is pretty funny. :))I should watch the original version someday!

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  7. oh ja, oma schreit der frieder :) nette sammlung! und auch nett eine weitere auswanderin kennenzulernen. wie lange lebst du denn schon in ohio?

    lg
    sophie

    http://theforgestyle.blogspot.com

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    1. Oh, find ich ja klasse dass Du das Buch auch kennst! Schön Dich kennenzulernen! Dein Blog ist wundervoll! Ich lebe jetzt seit Oktober 2011 in Ohio, war aber davor schon drei Monate dort. Wo gefällt es Dir denn am besten?
      Lieber Gruß!

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  8. I was thinking of picking up some children's books to help me learn German so I may have to look for some of these. I remember Pippi Longstocking and loved to read her story as well. Her name sounds way better in the original. In the English version it's: Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Mackrelmint Ephraim's Daughter Longstocking.

    I had a lot of favorites as a kid. Off the top of my head that I still remember: Matilda by Roald Dahl, Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans (although the English version of course), The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech, Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein, The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg (my mom used to read this every year on Christmas Eve)...and I could probably go on.

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    1. That's so cool, I have never heard Pippi's name in English! It sounds funny too! I think Pippi is very famous worldwide, the other books not so much but I am sure they would help you learn German! You can always ask me too if you need help!

      Awesome, I will check out your recommendations! I really love children's book! I know Matilda, but that's the only one from your list.

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