Handwritten, more Der Struwwelpeter

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I was surprised at the response to yesterday's Der Struwwelpeter entry...so many of you were already familiar with this memorable childhood figure. AND there's apparently a musical/opera version by a group called "The Tigerlilies"...! Thanks to Hitch for pointing me to this video clip. The company's site also has some history of Struwwelpeter: Apparently Dr. Heinrich Hoffmann, a Frankfurt 'medical man of the lunatic asylum', wrote and illustrated The Struwwelpeter (ShockHeaded Peter) more than 150 years ago because "he couldn't find anything on the shelves to fire the imagination of his children."

From Juliane:

Of Struwelpeter I particularly liked the story about Paulinchen and the matches because it had a happy end. The cats survived. Do you know Hilaire Belloc? British poet who made fun of this kind of 19th century educational poetry. Very funny. "There was a boy whose name was Jim his friends were very good to him..." Poor Jim gets eaten by a lion. Eventually. Educationally. And bit by bit. Belloc also burns children in the process. Hilaire-ious.

To Helen and Dan: thanks again for the book! (and I've still been unsuccessful at getting e-mail through to your account :-( )

The mysterious chewing in the wall of my office has moved to a different place.

There's not much we can do about it until the spring, so I'm trying to ignore it. Sometimes I half-expect part of the drywall to suddenly explode and a little furry head to glower out at me, demanding to be fed.

Fortunately I have some German chocolate left from Franklin's package; I'm saving a small piece of Santa's foot for dire emergency.

I'm not sure how much Blathering I'll be doing between now and Christmas. In case I don't...Happy Holidays, everyone!

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