Slovenly Betsy: The American Struwwelpeter: From the Struwwelpeter Library (Dover Children’s Classics)

Slovenly Betsy, Proud Phoebe, Lazy Charlotte, and other naughty girls get their comeuppance in these darkly humorous fables by Heinrich Hoffmann, the author of Struwwelpeter (Shock-headed Peter). Hoffmann’s Slovenly Betsy features the same hilarious approach to manners and morals as its famous predecessor. Adults and children alike will revel in these quaintly illustrated rhyming stories of bad habits and their dire consequences. More than 40 full-color drawings accompany Hoffman’s cautionary tales in verse of Sophie Spoilall, who deliberately breaks her toys; The Little Glutton, whose greed for sweets leads to a misadventure with a beehive; Envious Minnie, whose pretty face is ruined by jealousy; and other rude and disobedient children. The first large-format edition of a lost classic, this volume will delight book collectors and bibliophiles as well as all readers with a taste for perverse drollery.