Martin Muser’s children’s book debut “Kannawoniwasein” (2018) was such a great success that the author gave his fans two sequels with the smart heroes Finn and Jola. The second volume includes the six-year-old Antek from Poland with his three-legged dog Nuschki, who is now the hero of history. Nuschki is on a self-made raft on the Oder with Antek and two eleven-year-old friends. “Nuschki had a bad feeling from the start. As a dog you have such an instinct.” But “first everything started well”. A summer vacation day with a “scratchy blue sky” and small waves that glittered in the sunlight. A photo by Martin Muser shows the four of them enjoying themselves on their raft. But the red motorboat can be seen in the background and announces the catastrophe. It recklessly overtooks the little raft and capsized it. Nuschki is washed up on the German bank while the two big boys save little Antek, who cannot swim, to the Polish side.
But how is Nuschki supposed to get back to his master? It will be a great adventure in which he meets the old police sheepdog Derrik and the blind rat Helga. Together they find their way back over a bridge to Poland, where he happily arrives back at Antek in the end. Funny photos and drawings by Martin Muser and Tina Schulz enrich the beautiful summer story. (from 8 years)
Martin Muser: Nuschki. With illustrations by Tina Schulz. Carlsen, 2021. 110 pages, 11 euros.
Karin Koch lets Wieke and Ken tell her holiday story alternately, so readers get to know the very different biographies and the worries and problems of the two children very well. Wieke’s father’s new girlfriend, Xandra, has a “helper syndrome”. So she got the idea to take the refugee boy Ken from Nigeria with her on summer vacation to Italy. Much to the chagrin of Wieke, who has to endure the annoying spoiled daughter of Xandra, and now also the completely stranger Ken!
But Ken is also not happy about the invitation and isolates himself. In addition, he has no cell phone reception in the Italian mountain village, and so the contact with his mother in Nigeria, which is extremely important for him, is missing. In Ken’s chapters, the reader learns of his dangerous escape and how he survived only through good luck.
When Wieke accuses Ken of stealing due to a misunderstanding, Ken runs away. The alleged theft has now been resolved. Wieke has a guilty conscience and goes looking for Ken. Both endanger their lives. Grippingly told with a lot of understanding for the troubles of the two children. (from 10 years)
Karin Koch: Wieke & Ken. Peter Hammer Verlag, 2021. 136 pages. 14 euros.
A forest in which the animals live peacefully together and no one eats the other! Where do you get that? Yes, yes, in the “thick thicket”, because the forest policeman Dachs and his assistant Dachskatz ensure that everyone eats only vegetarian food and that there is peace and order among the forest animals. But then the “frog radio” spreads the terrible news that Hase was violently killed. There’s a crime scene with rabbit fur, blood, and gnawed bones. The suspicion immediately falls on Wolf. Who else would want to eat rabbit? But Inspector Dachs is not convinced, and together with Badger, who is actually a cat, but feels like a badger in his important police role, he starts looking for clues and comes to a surprising conclusion in the end.
For children, the Russian author Anna Starobinets has succeeded in creating a very funny and exciting prelude to a new crime series. For adults with a sense of irony and wit, the story is great reading pleasure! (Enriched with funny illustrations by Stefanie Jeschke and brilliantly translated into German by Christiane Pöhlmann). The second volume will appear in autumn 2021. (from 8 years and to read aloud) Hilde Elisabeth Menzel
Anna Starobinets: Badger in the thicket – hunger for rabbits. A forest thriller. With illustrations by Stefanie Jeschke. Translated from the Russian by Christiane Pöhlmann. Fischer KJB, 2020. 144 pages, 9 euros.