Wo Fuchs und Hase sich Gute Nacht sagen: Tiergeschichten und -gedichte

Abstract

This book is the original version of "Das Hausbuch der Tiergeschichten" in 2012. The format of both covers is slightly different and the place of publication is Belgium and not Germany. Otherwise it may be puzzling why the publisher simply changed the title and kept the book as is. As I wrote of that copy, the book divides up its fifty fables by areas, starting with "Von Tieren im Wasser." The range of stories includes Märchen as well as fables and extends to various kinds of stories and poems. The array of authors is truly stunning! I enjoy, for example, Goethe's poem "Die Frösche" (25). Under the ice of the frozen pond, the frogs promised that, if they ever again got into the fresh air, they would sing like nightingales. Spring came, they got into the open air, and "quakten wie vor alter Zeit." I also enjoy Theodor Fontane's German version of "The Twa Corbies" (41). Michl's art is various, from full double pages for titles of sections to various portions of pages with text. The art is simple, big, bold, and sometimes appropriately playful, as in "Gruselett" (43). Text and art are wonderfully matched in "Wettstreit" (46-47). A great example of this book's playful character is Hans Adolf Halbey's untitled poem on 178 with its facing illustration. It begins "Ein geapfelter Schimmel." It is all here, from Aesop to Munro Leaf's "Ferdinand" (183).