Shelagh Power-Chopra’s Comments

This is my take on Der Struwwelpeter, a 19th-century German children’s book written and illustrated by Heinrich Hoffmann. It’s a deliciously dark series of morality tales for children. I loved the strange stilted titles of each tale and wanted to interpret them as my own. I wasn’t interested in imitating the cruelty of the stories (although Hoffman’s intentions, it’s been said, were humorous)—that just seemed boring, too Goreyesque, etc. Maybe my version could be viewed at as modern morality tales for adults, with a tinge of the surreal and hopefully a little humor. The full text of the original tales can be read at Project Gutenberg.

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