Wie Hund und Katz: Moderne Fabeln

Abstract

This book is fun! I am not sure that these stories deserve the title fable, but they are engaging animal stories with something for readers to learn from each. And they are wonderfully illustrated. In the first story, Geheimnisse (7-18), all the animals of the village except one get worried because a thief is about. But the mystery is that, with all the break-ins, nothing gets stolen. Karla the cat, the only animal not to lock up her house and install all sorts of security devices, helps establish that a group of birds have been breaking into houses. They are searching for…mysteries! And mysteries are not the sort of thing that you lock up and install cameras to protect. In the second story, Offene Rechnung (19-27), ejected renters take matters into their own hands, build themselves good houses, and end up telling their former landlords, the rich skunk lawyer and his rat wife, that the latter are welcome uns mal kreuzweise am Hintern zu lecken (27). Some of the imagination here goes into giving the characters their names and roles. The skunk Dr. Stefan Stinktier sends out notice to all those renting homes from him. The list includes Wieland, the weasel, who weasels through his hole to find his contract; boar Wildschwein Werner murmurs Schweinerei; and bookworm Bodo Bücherwurm claims aggressively that the last chapter and last word on this matter have not yet been written. Michl's colored art work is delightful. Good examples include Hund Hektor as workman and Katze Karla as lounging femme fatale on 8-9 and and Stinktier Stefan with his wife Ratte Renate on 24-25.