Emil and the Detectives, A children's book set in Berlin» KidsTravelBooks

Emil and the Detectives

You can frequently find me looking around for children’s books set in various countries. Because, well, that’s what I do. While searching for a book set in Germany, and Berlin, specifically, that wasn’t about World War II and it’s aftermath, I came across Emil and The Detectives. It was written in 1929. It was so loved in Germany that, although the author’s subsequent books were banned and burned, this one survived. I encourage you to read the Wikipedia entry about the book. Then click on the Amazon page and click on “look inside” to read Maurice Sendak’s introduction and what the book meant to him.

Scroll down to read more about the book.

Written by Erich Kastner, illustrated by Walter Trier, translated by J. D. Stahl.

Description

A children’s book set in Berlin

One of the insights for Emil and the Detectives that Wikipedia provides is that,

The most unusual aspect of the novel, compared to existing children’s literature at the time, was that it was realistically set in a contemporary Berlin peopled with some fairly rough characters, not in a sanitized fantasy world; also that it refrained from obvious moralizing, letting the characters’ deeds speak for themselves.

About Emil and the Detectives

So, what’s the story? Emil is on a train for the first time by himself. Other passengers find him very friendly. He eventually doses off and, when he wakes, he notices that the money he had in his pocket is gone. He thinks he knows who took it and enlists in a little help from his friends to find the thief.

If you didn’t see my suggestion above, go ahead and click on the Amazon page and click on “look inside” to read Maurice Sendak’s introduction and what the book meant to him.