The only delightful thing about Cleopatra is her name. She is a laughing hyaena with everything that comes with a hyaena: a pungent smell, shrill laughter, spotted shaggy fur. Cleopatra runs a little shop at the end of the world, right next to the garbage dump. This is where she finds everything she needs in…
Picture Books
The crossover between a human being and an animal is blurry. In any case the crossover between some people and animals. Who doesn’t know the swimmer at the open air pool who emerges from the water with a bald round head, round eyes and a large moustache and resembles a popular sea animal so amazingly…
We all occasionally dream of being a little prettier. Taller, slimmer, a bit more muscular, somewhat blonder. We are not alone with our vanities! Nadia Budde gets a lot of zany characters on the pages of her picture book – neighbours, relatives, friends – and we immediately realize their little imperfections. Too many kilograms, a…
Cat Fred and goose Anabel have enjoyed a wonderful summer in each other’s company. But then autumn arrived. Anabel started to get cold and had to fly south. But Anabel can’t bear to be without Fred. And Fred misses Anabel, too. After all, spring follows winter. And it turns out that Anabel and Fred weren’t…
Every day, the strongest man in the world has to face limitations imposed by his age and height. People confuse him with his aunt on the telephone, he has to take the stairs to his apartment, because he can’t reach the button for the elevator. He gets sick in the car, broccoli terrorizes him, and…
Quima goes for a walk and discovers that something is following her everywhere, even if she tries to get rid of it: it’s her shadow. This discovery leads her to wonder about the origin and essence of shadows: what are they? What are they made of? Where do they come from? To find out, Quima…
Quima is unable to go to sleep. No matter how often her parents ask her to try. She has lost Sleep. Her parents help her look for it and in the end, they find it hidden in the duvet. Sleep is trying to flee, but they have to catch it if they want Quima to…
You don’t have to be big and fat in order to know what it would feel like. Not to fit into your clothes and not to fit in anywhere. This is what Jelena suffered. Jelena was so fat and so tall that she didn’t fit into her mother’s small shooting gallery. And as the funfair…
What is this? That’s how a curious person asks and he asks from morning till nighttime, so that he will be wiser. What is this? A fairy, a shrew mouse, a wart hog, a doll munching beast. That’s how someone, who has already seen more of the world, would answer without hesitation. But as he…
52 Opportunities to Talk About Lies and the Truth Does everyone lie every now and again? Is it allowed to tell white lies? Why do we want to know the truth? Is there always just one truth? Can animals lie? Lies can have far-reaching consequences. But they can also be a last resort. When do…
Kids tend to have mood swings. Absolute joy and happiness can turn into an attack of rage and a noisy tantrum, the reason for which is often hard to identify in the middle of the commotion. One minute everything is painted pink, and the next there’s tension and the grey clouds roll in and end…
Elise is lonely and fearful. She never leaves her flat. But one day, a strange object flies in through the open window. And the following day, Elise has an unexpected visitor. This is to be a visit that will change everything … A beautiful, gentle and sympathetic story about how an inquisitive and self-confident child…
In bygone times, when this and that was still missing – the humps on the camel’s back or the elephant’s trunk for example – there were no armardillos either. Rudyard Kipling has resolved the greatest mysteries in his famous Just So Stories – amongst them the puzzle surrounding the origin of the armadillos: The hedgehog…
A very special leporello climbing tour! 2.75 metres long! In the North, where you find elks and dwarfs in knitted hats, there is a tree in the woods. At the very bottom, right by the roots lives a dwarf in his cave – this is the root dwarf. At the very top, right in the…
Mama Sambona, the wise old queen, lives in the heart of Africa. One day an elegant gentleman comes to see her. He wants to bring Mama Sambona to her forefathers: He is Death. But Mama Sambona is still loving life and has got a lot of plans: She is not at all willing to go…
The little girl is lying in her bed, her eyes wide open. The night is black and you can get lost in the dark room like in a dark forest. But thank God, there is the white bear! He is sitting at the little girl’s bedside every night, slightly shimmering in the darkness. One day…
The little girl and her grandfather spend a lot of time together. They look at the trains at the station and watch the animals in the zoo, they buy bread on the market and weed grandfather’s garden. But whatever they decide to do, the old man always notes: maybe this is the last time we…
Occasions to Think About Nothingness Are we nothing before we are born? Is it possible that nothingness is a hole? Where does a journey into nothingness lead? It is questions such as these that Antje Damm asks in this book and she thus takes children absolutely seriously. Her unique composition of succinct phrases with often…
Will the earth always be there? This is one of the questions Antje Damm poses in her book. Who wants to answer it? But to discuss it, to philosophise about it is fun and prompts us to think about the world in which we live. Where does fear come from? Does it hurt to grow…
His lonely way to school saddens the little boy’s heart every morning. There are so many things scaring him. The dark tunnel. The fierce old man. But one afternoon someone is waiting for him in front of the school. A nice guy with floppy ears and an amazing friendliness. It’s a big dog who, from…