Austria
65
Anger-Schmidt, Gerda (text)
Habinger, Renate (illus.)
Neun nackte Nilpferddamen : aller Unsinn macht Spaß (Nine naked hippo ladies : nonsense is fun)
St. Pölten [et al.] : NP, 2003. – 128 p.
ISBN 3-85326-272-4
Alphabet – Poetry – Riddle – Nonsense
This ABC-book promises many diverse discoveries – and it really keeps them.
With the letters from A to Z on the right-hand margin, it looks like an
address book. The pages offer a multitude of verses, pictures, riddles, puns,
and sayings for each and every reader to think, smile, or laugh about. Since
it might prove a little too difficult for beginning readers on their own,
adults should jump at this opportunity and join in the puzzle-solving-fun with
their children. In this entertaining compendium, the whole world between
heaven and earth is spread out before the reader. (5+) ¤
66
Damm, Dörte
Daphne Wildermuth : die Tochter des Jakobiners (Daphne Wildermuth : the Jacobin’s daughter)
Wien : Ueberreuter, 2003. – 275 p.
ISBN 3-8000-2083-1
Girl – Actress – Choice of career – Wish – Germany/1793
Daphne’s mother has died, her father sympathises with the French Jacobins
and the heart’s desire of the self-confident girl is to become an actress.
Her mother’s relatives take her away from the liberal-minded, pro-French
Palatinate and bring her to the courtly city of Weimar. In a painful process,
Daphne experiences the narrowness of the Saxonian provincial town and its
inhabitants’ attitude towards life, which is characterised by conformism and
hierarchical thinking. To follow her dream, the girl escapes and joins a group
of travelling actors. Although the group breaks up, Daphne is lucky: Her
father enables her to start an apprenticeship as an actress in Weimar. This
informative story of an early female emancipation is set up against an
authentic historical background. (12+)
67
Poznanski, Ursula (text)
Rassmus, Jens (illus.)
Buchstaben-Dschungel (Jungle of letters)
Wien : Dachs, 2003. – [36] p.
ISBN 3-85191-308-6
Alphabet – Animals – Puzzle
A tornado in the jungle whirls around the animals: Almost every one of them
loses a letter from its name which hangs high up in the trees now. Luckily
enough, little monkey and ara get together and start looking for the owners of
the respective letters: the NU (now) turns back into a GNU (gnu), the LANGE
(long one) into a SCHLANGE (snake), the LEDERMAUS (leather mouse) into a
FLEDERMAUS (bat). Even two completely different personalities like AL and AL,
i.e. AAL (eel) and WAL (whale), can calmly swim away now free of worries. This
cheerful letter-puzzle-book with pastel-coloured pictures scattered throughout
the text, tells a logical and exciting story for pre-school children. (4+)
68
Vogel, Sibylle (text/illus.)
Hugo allein daheim (Hugo
home alone)
Wien : Picus-Verl., 2003. – [32] p.
ISBN 3-85452-865-5
Family – Dog – Keeping a pet – Loneliness – Mischief
Even the most devoted of dogs is confused when the family drives away and
leaves him alone at home. Well, he says to himself, then it is probably my
duty to guard the house. On the other hand, he is now free to do everything he
pleases: raid the fridge, invite friends, chase the chicken, tease the cat,
etc. Unfortunately, however, all of this becomes boring very quickly when no
one gets angry about the mischief or fills up the fridge again. Eventually,
the postman delivers the relieving message: The family is coming back home.
This is a colourful and amusing book about an extremely sensible and
cooperative guard dog. (4+)
69
Zauleck, Franz (text/illus.)
Olga mit dem Gummipropeller : eine Geschichte mit Bildern (Olga with the rubber propeller : a story with pictures)
Wien [et al.] : Verl. Jungbrunnen, 2002. – [34] p.
ISBN 3-7026-5746-0
Literary fairy tale – Cow – Colour – Identity – Outsider – Community
– Wish – Differentness
A white cow gives birth to a black calf. This would not have been a problem,
had not all the cows in this country been white. Therefore, the little
calf wants to be white, too. It goes on a journey and a fairy grants its wish
– yet suddenly it comes to a country where all the cows are black. Now,
little calf wants to return home, but when it travels through another region
it meets a purple cow – a poor outsider. Only one wish will help: All cows
shall have different patterns – and that’s the way it still is (almost)
everywhere until today. The artist depicts the calf’s adventurous journey to
itself in mixed-media illustrations. By dressing the cows in differently
coloured clothes, he takes the topic of identity and otherness to another
(human) level. (5+)