My rating: 5 (of 5) “stars”
© photographed by Ingrid Haunold, illustration by Erich Schütz (1886-1937)
I own a copy of this book which was published in 1947 by the Austrian publishing house Verlag für Jugend und Volk. It is a German-language edition with selected stories by Peter Rosegger (1843-1918) which was published as a textbook for Austrian schoolchildren.
Even though this edition was published in German, I am writing this review in English, as I really want you to consider reading books by this 19th and early 20th century author. Some of his books were translated into English.
The stories in this book tell about Rosegger’s experiences as a child of dirt-poor mountain farmers in the Austrian state of Styria. On the Wikipedia website, you’ll find a summary of his life and work. The stories in this book were illustrated by Erich Schütz (1886-1937), an Austrian artist, and they are absolutely wonderful.
© photographed by Ingrid Haunold, illustration by Erich Schütz (1886-1937)
In one story, Rosegger writes about the first time he and his godfather saw a steam locomotive; the train disappeared into a tunnel, which scared both him and his godfather. Yet the two of them were so curious that they conquered their fear. Rosegger’s godfather bought two tickets for a train ride, and was so thrilled by the experience that they didn’t disembark the train when they were supposed to, and continued to ride the train for a while longer. As they didn’t pay the full fare for the journey, yet had no more money to purchase additional tickets after disembarking, they were detained for several hours at the train station in Mürzzuschlag. It’s a simple story, which brings the past alive (steam trains! a tunnel through a mountain! the devil at work!); Schütz’s illustrations add to the charm of this book.
© photographed by Ingrid Haunold, illustration by Erich Schütz (1886-1937)