Slovenly Kate and Other Stories: From the Struwwelpeter Library (Dover Children’s Classics)

OH fie on Kate! untidy girl,With dirty face, hair out of curl,
Who soils each dress, however neat,
First with the pudding, then with meat.
More like a little pig is she,
Than what a tidy girl should be!

Thus begins Heinrich Hoffmann’s series of darkly humorous cautionary tales, all recounted in rhyme and accompanied by hilarious illustrations. Kate’s long-suffering mama produces a trio of pigs as dining companions for the filthy girl, much to the other children’s derision. Similar comeuppances await Headstrong Nancy, Envious Tom, Tell-Tale Jenny, and the other rude and disobedient denizens of this extraordinary book.
Frankfurt physician Heinrich Hoffmann wrote and illustrated Slovenly Kate’s predecessor, Struwwelpeter, as a Christmas present for his three-year-old son. The popularity of his stories about the lamentable (and laughable) consequences of naughty behavior led to this volume’s 1875 publication. The compilation includes a wealth of additional nursery rhymes and fables–recounting the fates of Cruel Jack, Greedy Bob, and other juvenile miscreants–plus delightful illustrations by Theodor Hosemann.

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