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Title: Shock-Headed Peter: In Latin-English-German by Heinrich Hoffmann, Shirley Cook, Peter Wiesmann ISBN: 0-86516-548-3 Publisher: Bolchazy Carducci Pub. Date: January, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.95

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Average Customer Rating: 5 (1 review)

Rating: 5
Summary: A well-groomed story
Comment: Shock-Headed Peter (sometimes known as Slovenly Peter, or even Scruffy Peter, after the German Der Struwwelppeter) is a well-known children's story in German-speaking countries written by Heinrich Hoffmann in 1845; it is lesser known in English and other cultures, although it has made the rounds and resurfaces again and again as a popular children's tale. It is a bit controversial in ways - as one commentator says, the pedagogical content is very nineteenth century in its approach, and sometimes strikes the modern reader as bizarre or even cruel.

It is, in fact, a collection of stories; apart from Shock-headed Peter, we have cruel Frederick, poor Harriet and the matches, the Inky Boys, the man who went out shooting, Conrad who sucked his thumb, fidgety Philip, finicky Augustus, flying Robert, and Johnny with his head in the air. Reading these is somewhat like reading stories by Edward Gorey (the Gashlycrumb Tinies). The kids are disobedient or willful or just the victims of poor habits; in the end, they get a penalty that fits each 'crime', more or less - for example, Harriet playing with the matches eventually sets herself on fire. (This is what I meant by being questionable in its teaching tactics.)

The history of the Latin translation of Shock-Headed Peter is interesting. It is not a recent idea to translate this text, but rather one that has been around for generations. The first Latin translation was produced in 1934, a translation from the English translation; another translation taken directly from the German came in 1938. The translation presented in this book was in fact produced by Peter Wiseman in 1954; together with the original German by Hoffmann and an anonymous English translation, the three texts are presented on each page along with a colourful graphic representation of the character and action of the story.

Following these parts is a new verse translation in English by Ann Wild, and a brief essay on the history of the Latin translation of the text. A glossary (Latin-to-English) is presented, divided up by section going in order of occurrence of the vocabulary, rather than being an alphabetical dictionary type of listing. The glossary puts a simple meaning to the word, to encourage reading rather than analysis.

As a device for studying Latin, this is an interesting method. Wiseman purposely intended this to be a text for relatively beginning students, as well as 'those who are no longer as proficient in Latin.' This makes the text well suited to students and others who wish to practice their Latin on something a bit more fun than the political orations of Cicero.

This is part of the Living Latin series produced by Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, who are gaining repute with such texts as this; their series on Dr. Seuss in Latin continues to attract attention, and other children's texts such as Arbor Alma ('The Giving Tree') render into fairly simple Latin tales that are already dear to modern readers, making the somewhat off-putting task of learning a 'dead' language more fun and meaningful.