German children's literature

The Little Polar Bear (in Dutch: Lars de kleine ijsbeer) is a franchise about a polar bear cub named Lars who first starred in a number of books written by Dutch author, Hans de Beer.

Janosch ( born as Horst Eckert on 11 March 1931) is one of the best-known German-language children's book authors and illustrators. He was born in Hindenburg (now Zabrze, Poland) in Upper Silesia to a family of mixed German and Polish origin. He said in an interview that he is Silesian of nationality.

The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew It Was None of His Business or The Story of the Little Mole Who Went in Search of Whodunit (German: Vom kleinen Maulwurf, der wissen wollte, wer ihm auf den Kopf gemacht hat, 'About the little mole, that wanted to know, who 'did' [defecate] on his head') is a children's book by German children's authors Werner Holzwarth [de] and Wolf Erlbruch. The book was first published by Peter Hammer Verlag in 1989; it was soon translated and became an international success.

Emil and the Detectives (German: Emil und die Detektive) is a 1929 novel set mainly in Berlin, by the German writer Erich Kästner and illustrated by Walter Trier. It was Kästner's first major success and the only one of his pre-1945 works to escape Nazi censorship. The book was immediately popular and the original version sold an initial two million copies. First published in English in 1931, it has never been out of print and has been translated into at least 59 languages.

The Neverending Story (German: Die unendliche Geschichte) is a fantasy novel by German writer Michael Ende, published in 1979. The first English translation, by Ralph Manheim, was published in 1983. It was later adapted into a film series.

Maya the Bee (German: Die Biene Maja) is the main character in The Adventures of Maya the Bee, a German book written by Waldemar Bonsels and published in 1912. The book has been published in many other languages and adapted into different media. The first American edition was published in 1922 by Thomas Seltzer and illustrated by Homer Boss. The latter's wife Adele Szold-Seltzer (1876-1940), the daughter of Benjamin Szold and younger sister of Henrietta Szold, was the translator.

"The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" (German: Nussknacker und Mausekönig) is a novella–fairy tale written in 1816 by Prussian author E. T. A. Hoffmann, in which a young girl's favorite Christmas toy, the Nutcracker, comes alive and, after defeating the evil Mouse King in battle, whisks her away to a magical kingdom populated by dolls. The story was originally published in Berlin in German as part of the collection Kinder-Märchen (Children's Stories) by In der Realschulbuchhandlung. In 1892, the Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and choreographers Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov turned Alexandre Dumas's adaptation of the story into the ballet The Nutcracker.

Little Peter's Journey to the Moon (German Peterchens Mondfahrt) is a fairy tale written by German author and playwright Gerdt von Bassewitz. It was first performed as a play in Leipzig in 1912 and appeared in 1915 as a storybook for children with illustrations by Hans Baluschek. A 2007 English translation names the book Peter and Anneli's Journey to the Moon.

Max and Moritz: A Story of Seven Boyish Pranks (original: Max und Moritz – Eine Bubengeschichte in sieben Streichen) is a German language illustrated story in verse. It was written and illustrated by Wilhelm Busch and published in 1865, and has since had significant cultural impact, both in German-speaking countries, where the story has been passed down through generations, but on the wider world, after translation into many languages. It has been adapted for film and television, as well as inspiring comic strips and children's TV characters.

Jella Lepman (15 May 1891, in Stuttgart – 4 October 1970, in Zurich) was a German journalist, author and translator who founded the International Youth Library in Munich.