Erich Kastner Books

I love Emil, who sets off full of innocence and good cheer to visit his grandma in Berlin, when – uh oh – a sinister man in a black bowler hat steals all his money while he is sleeping on the train. What follows is a glorious caper across the city, as Emil and all the children of Berlin team up to use wit and cunning to pursue and capture the thief. Kastner published Emil and the Detectives in 1929, and it is thought to be the first children’s book to positively portray the city as a place of excitement and adventure. It also has my favourite villain, Herr Grundeis in it. Wonderful!