Vintage Children's Book - Slovenly Peter

Just in case modern methods of child behavior modification aren't seeming effective, one can always turn to Dr. Henry Hoffmann and his tales of what happened to naughty children - in the book Slovenly Peter.*

From a 2006 NPR Weekend Edition:


'One of the most popular children's books of 1845 is back in bookstores. Like many children's stories of that era, Der Struwwelpeter was written to frighten kids into good behavior. 

Few Americans today know the book, but its influence can be found in other familiar stories....

Loosely translated as Slovenly Peter, this new version of the 19th century collection of cautionary tales looks like a typical children's book.

Der Struwwelpeter  had a huge following in the States, up until World War I, when anti-German sentiment caused a dip in popularity. But the stories have lived on, influencing cartoon bad boys, the Katzenjammer Kids and later Dennis the Menace. 

The book also helped set the stage for children's book classics like Where the Wild Things Are and the beloved Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. 

Artist Bob Staake says his parents introduced him to Slovenly Peter, and it's still a rite of passage for children and grandchildren of many German immigrants' 

The Story of Augustus Who Would Not Have Any Soup 

 Augustus was a chubby lad;

Fat ruddy cheeks Augustus had;

And everybody saw with joy

The plump and hearty healthy boy,

He ate and drank as he was told,

And never let his soup get cold.

But one day, one cold winter's day,

He threw away the spoon and screamed:

'O take the nasty soup away!

I won't have any soup today:

I will not, will not eat my soup!

I will not eat it, no!

Next day, now look, the picture shows

How lank and lean Augustus grows!

Yet, though he feels so weak and ill,

The naughty fellow cries out still - 

'Not any soup for me, I say!

O take the nasty soup away!

I will not, will not eat my soup!

I will not eat it, no!'

The third day comes. O what a sin!

To make himself so pale and thin.

Yet, when the soup is put on table,

He screams, as loud as he is able - 

'Not any soup for me, I say!

O take the nasty soup away!

I won't have any soup today!'

Look at him, now the fourth day's come!

He scarce outweighs a sugar-plum;

He's like a little bit of thread;

And on the fifth day he was - dead!

Remember, we did read Grimm's Fairy Tales. This is a fun book with silly ink illustrations. Although there is no date in my copy of Slovenly Peter, according to a Google search, I believe that it is a reprint from the late 1930s.


*And no, I wouldn't use this book as a guide for child raising, but it is fun. I wonder if Mr. Rogers read Slovenly Peter to his boys. ;-)

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