From Little Kids to Big Ones, From the Child’s World to the Cosmos
Wimmelbuch Gefühle offers search-and-find fun even for the very youngest. Big emotions can happen anywhere, whether in the swimming pool or in the magic castle. It’s good to be able to talk about them calmly during a shared reading session. Reading together isn’t always straightforward, as we see when the animals in Kann ich bitte in die Mitte? sit down to read together. It seems quite simple: choose a book and start reading. But the cat is missing a cushion, the lion has no room, the stork is not here yet, and someone always wants to be in the middle. No sooner has everyone called out: ‘Right, we can get started now …’ than someone on the reading sofa comes up with something new. Wonderful fun. Schlafen wie die Rüben works in a very similar way. Who hasn’t encountered bedtime dramas about falling asleep? The authors turn things around: a calm bedtime routine is so yesterday – first we have to chase the monsters away. This is easily done with fast-paced rhymes and dynamic pictures until everyone collapses into bed, exhausted.
Thorsten with the bristles and little mouse Line are firmly convinced that cuddles and hugs are a great comfort when they discover Theo the rhinoceros in the cupboard. Together with the other animal friends, they want to make Theo laugh again. However, themes like too much closeness – and not enough – are also covered in Das große Knuddeln. Direct and with a light touch.
In Ein Kuchen für das Krokodil, the mouse realises when she wants to bake the crocodile a birthday cake that having good intentions doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll do a great job. Somehow nothing goes according to plan. Too many ingredients that have no place in a cake fall into the dough. Fortunately, the bear can help the desperate mouse, and in the end a great kind of cake makes for an unforgettable celebration.
Nature, of course!
Maybe it’s because we are increasingly losing touch with nature that we want to look at it more and more closely and get to know it better. This curiosity is evident in children’s books too. Even if almost everything seems to have been said in the fields of biology and zoology, there are aspects that perhaps only work in children’s books and that do not fit easily into a genre.
For example, Von Riesengroß bis Klitzeklein examines proportions in nature. From the close-up illustrations of a tiny flower in relation to a cow right up to outer space – this is a lavish picture book with philosophical content, because perspective matters.
Things get really close to nature in Meine wilden Nachbarn. In this volume from the series 100% Naturbuch, printed on recycled paper, the illustrator deals with animals in the city and their association with humans. The whole thing is as minimalist as it is humorous, and the illustrations make it comprehensible even for the very youngest readers.
The volumes of the Endecke series offer a combination of illustration and photography, detailed information and surprise. For example in Korallenriff, the experts pack facts into an exciting writing style that creates reader loyalty.
Gefühle Wimmelbuch
Over 200 expressions to help children navigate the emotional world.
Kann ich bitte in die Mitte?
A board picture book for very little ones.
Schlafen wie die Rüben
From the winners of the German Youth Literature Award in 2014 and 2020.
Das große Knuddeln
Cuddle expert: fluffy, soft and of a cheerful nature.
Ein Kuchen für das Krokodil
‘A witty and action-packed picture book story … with many unexpected twists.’
Von Riesengroß bis Klitzeklein
An extraordinary picture book with a clever zoom effect that encourages a mindful approach to our environment.
Meine wilden Nachbarn
Go out into the wilderness on your doorstep – inside and outside 100% natural.
Entdecke das Korallenriff
From cute clownfish and seahorses to beautiful starfish and toothy sharks – everything about the world of coral reefs.
Balto & Togo
An illustrated retelling of the ‘Serum Run to Nome’.
Wunderwelt der Vögel
Discover the fascinating world of birds. Perfect for gaining first knowledge.
Faszination Krake
‘In this digital age, a book could not be more beautifully designed. The high-quality layout … shows that children are important’.
Wicked times!
The future promises to be challenging. There was a good reason why the TV documentary The Ten Most Wicked Periods of History! (ZDF) nominated the future as the undisputed number 1 in its very special Top 10. The future is on everyone’s mind. A writing competition organised jointly with the Verein Zukunft schreiben e. V. on the theme of Zukunftschreiben statt Schwarzmalen brought Tessloff Verlag more than 200 entries from authors of all ages. The best ‘11 stories of encouragement about climate change and environmental protection’, as the subtitle says, are brought together in the anthology of the same name – all searching for ways out of the current environmental crisis.
In her book Das ist auch meine Welt! Gerda Raidt confronts us all, young and old, with the question ‘How can we make it better?’ Unlike comparable publications, she does not simply recruit the younger generation to protect the environment, but clearly defines responsibilities and connections. Her book is the embodiment of a discourse that refuses to take refuge in simple answers. This makes it all the more remarkable.
Patricia Thoma even lets us dream our future in Unsere Zukunft träumen. The result is a picture book of visionary utopias for tomorrow for all age groups, true to the title, accompanied by dream-like illustrative scenarios.
Space, Earth, humankind
Standing with both feet in the here and now, we dream ourselves into the future. So it’s no surprise that humankind and our immediate and wider surroundings, i.e. the Earth and outer space, are currently the focus of many new publications, from books for first-time readers to innovative non-fiction books for young adults.
Even beginner readers can discover the environment on a large and small scale with the titles from the WAS IST WAS. Erstes Lesen easy! series, which include outer space, trees and sea creatures.
Dieter Braun offers a visual treat with Die Welt der Meere: a concise, to-the-point text with sophisticated illustrations.
The series Dein Lesestart, 2. Klasse from Duden Verlag offers something similar. With Oetinger’s Lesestarter, 2. Lesestufe you can even accompany the first German female astronauts: Unser Weg ins Weltall.
With Frag doch mal die Maus! beginner readers can turn their attention to the future. In the series’ volume Future, the popular TV rodent answers more than 20 questions on the issue with easy-to-read texts and clearly understandable illustrations. The matching foundation for such abstract musings can be found in the volume Unsere Erde. A lot of information is offered here. Tone, text, typesetting, pictures and graphics are perfectly coordinated.
Who are we?
Wir Menschen explores this question with short, to-the-point texts and expressive pictures in which we encounter both familiar and perplexing things along fascinatingly intricate paths. The authors focus on emotions and humour and emphasise the connecting elements. The book remains consistently in the ‘we’ perspective, so the reader is always included. It succeeds in helping us, the readers, to reflect on our own experience and empathise with others.
Einer von Hundert wird 100 is a masterpiece of infographics. The authors do not exaggerate when they claim in the subtitle that they offer ‘pretty much everything you need to know about life’. All this is presented in graphics that are as simple as they are impressive. Clear structure + wacky facts + cheeky humour = irresistible dream team. Not a non-fiction book for teenagers in the classic sense, but they will definitely love it.
Zukunftschreiben statt Schwarzmalen
Newbie writers and experienced authors create fantastic visions of the future, introduce contemporary role models and develop smart ideas for sustainable lifestyles.
Das ist auch meine Welt!
Climate crisis, animal welfare, justice – a passionate plea for change and a new start puts everyday situations into a global context.
Unsere Zukunft träumen
This powerful, inspiring and positive presentation of the topic of our future engages children’s imagination and playful creativity.
Tiere im Meer
The sea – a paradise for little explorers and discoverers, which they can explore independently with this first reading book.
Die Welt der Meere
The new masterpiece by the author of several bestselling books.
Unser Weg ins Weltall
The first two German astronauts report on their intensive training prior to their flight to the ISS space station.
Unsere Erde
Why don’t islands just float away? Can mountains grow? Answers to children’s most important questions.
Wir Menschen
Despite all our differences, we humans are actually very similar! This book teaches us to appreciate who we are!
Einer von Hundert wird 100
The renowned data journalist Tin Fischer has researched surprising facts relating to all phases of life.
About the authors
Sylvia Mucke has been editor-in-chief at Eselsohr for more than ten years.
Christine Paxmann is the author of numerous books for adults and children and the publisher of Eselsohr, one of the most important German-language journals for children’s and young adult literature.
