Sometimes people do the damndest - and most impressive - things. After seeing a film adaptation of this apparently classic German children's novel, Kevin went looking for a copy of the book, learned that it had never been translated into English, and decided to do it himself despite not speaking any German at all; rather remarkably, with the help of free online translators and a friend who was fortuitously learning German at the time, he succeeded.
The story itself is quite charming, alternating between waking reality and the night-time dreams of the ten year old Lippel which are inspired by his reading of The Tales of a Thousand and One Nights and reflect his daytime experiences and encounters with people. In essence, it's about dreams and the power of the imagination - themes, of course, suitable for literature of all kinds and in all languages.
The story itself is quite charming, alternating between waking reality and the night-time dreams of the ten year old Lippel which are inspired by his reading of The Tales of a Thousand and One Nights and reflect his daytime experiences and encounters with people. In essence, it's about dreams and the power of the imagination - themes, of course, suitable for literature of all kinds and in all languages.
