Years ago, I found this very old German edition of Der Struwwelpeter originally written in 1845 by Dr. Heinrich Hoffman. Hoffman was a psychiatrist and this book is about children behaving badly. I work with youth with severe behavior disorders, so I may have been drawn to this strange view of oppositional defiance. I believe Struwwelpeter was the inspiration for Tim Burton‘s Edward Scissorhands.
Struwwelpeter describes a boy who does not groom himself properly and is consequently unpopular… Mark Twain‘s English translation of the book is called “Slovenly Peter.” A link to an English translation of the entire book is here. [Source]
Here are some pages that stand out for me:
The book belongs beautifully in my graphic novel collection and I find the illustrations deliciously creep and Jan Švankmajer-esque!
Recommended: Švankmajer’s et cetera:
