SANKT MARTIN RITT DURCH SCHNEE UND WIND: Inspirational Kids' Books on St. Martin and Kindness in German
- Beatrice Beckmann
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
Every year on November 11th in Germany (or at least in the Catholic parts of the country) kids celebrate St. Martin. with a Lanternenlauf or Lantern Walk: Celebrating community. the kids and parents walk with self crafted lanterns, singing songs and meeting at a bonfire. It all ends with some hot drink and cookie or special treat. Oftentimes there is some retelling of this story of St. Martin, with reenacting.. You may wonder: who was he?
St. Martin is celebrated for his kindness and modesty. A Roman soldier living around 400 A.C. in Tours, France, he converted to Christianity at a young age. Kids in Germany know his legend of coming across a barely- clad, freezing beggar in a winter night. St. Martin, a true Christian, cut his cloak in half, sharing it with the beggar. An excellent story to talk about kindness, the sharing of the wealthy with the poor
If you want to practice the songs with your child, here is a link to the most popular ones: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=932K0Ng_bXU and if you are looking to make your own lantern, you'll find many ideas on this site:
And of course, there are lots of great German kids' books on St. Martin - perfect to read to your child to acquaint them with the German tradition of the Lantern walk, but also to talk about kindness during this time and throughout the year!
Alexander Steffensmeier
LATERNE, LATERNE, LIESELOTTE!
Lieselotte is all excited about the lantern walk. With her crafted lantern, she waits in front of the shed waiting for the other animals of the farm to join. But where are they? One after another they all gather, the chicken, dog, the farmer and the mailman...
Lovely board book told in rhyme, with the ever popular cow Lieselotte.
2 years and up
Sarah Dietz
WER HAT DIE SCHÖNSTE LATERNE?
Little Bear is looking forward to the lantern walk, but he doesn't have a lantern yet! He is a it at a loss... But then he meets his friends, the other animals in the forrest, and each one of them has a unique and different lantern. And he slowly realizes. it is not about having the most beautiful lantern anyway, the lantern walk is about community!
Short sentences, simple illustrations, pull-out flaps make this board book perfect for toddlers.
2 years and up
Dorothea Cüppers
MEIN BUCH VON SANKT MARTIN
If you are looking for a book that tells the legend of St. Martin, this board book will be a hit: Told in simple language and with cute illustrations,, we learn about St. Martin, his life and the legends.
Included are some touch and feel elements and two popular lantern walk songs with lyrics and notes.
3 years and up
Antoine Schreiber / Maja Dusikova
SANKT MARTIN UND DER KLEINE BÄR
Little teddy bear and Marina are participating at the local lantern walk in town and watching the reenactment of St. Martin sharing his cloak with a freezing stranger, when they see a boy crying. He lost his lantern. The boy is looking directly at little bear, but why?
A wonderful picture book about sharing is caring - with atmospheric illustrations that render the cold winter night beautifully - and make St. Martin and the lanterns stand out.
3 years and up
Johanna Lindemann / Stephan Pricken
DIE SCHÖNSTE LATERNE DER WELT
Sometimes when you are looking forward to something, if things go wrong, it gets doubly frustrating!
Anton was just as excited about St. Martin as everybody, but then his dad doesn't show up at preschool for the communal lantern making, Adding to the distress, Anton messes his own lantern up turning it into some unsightly weird object. But he and his dad make up and try to make the best of things... only to find Anton's lantern ending in a puddle and dissolving after another boy bumps into him. Anton just loses it... when a stranger joins them.
A modern take on St. Martin and sharing is caring - and overcoming stereotypes.
4 years and up
Kirsten Boie, Jutta Bauer
JULI TUT GUTES
Latern walks and getting treats are all fun - but giving away his own toys for the poor for a flea market? Juli is upset when he returns from preschool - he needs all his toys all to himself. But his mother convinces him to take a look at the things they already put away, where they find his old toy phone. And in the end Juli finds a way of doing a good dead and somehow winning himself....
A very realistic picture book with no sentimental note. Boys often highly identify with Juli. (Please be aware that this is a German picture book that has one scene of nudity. We can cover it if you prefer when sending. ).
4 years and up.
Heinz Janisch / Birgitte Heiderl
DER ROTE MANTEL.
DIE GESCHICHTE VOM HEILIGEN MANTEL
This picture book artfully blends the story of a refugee boy in modern days with the legend of St. Martin.
Amir and his dad made it to a refugee camp. He wakes up wrapped in a red coat, and a woman brings him warm soup, telling him he was found in this coat, that a stranger gave him. The woman then tells him about St. Martin and how he shared his red cloak with a beggar.
The illustrations are generally in black and white, pencil drawings, the only color being the red of the coats.
A beatiful message for empathy, kindness and compassion.
5 years and up
Kirsten Boie
WIR WOLLEN LATERNE LAUFEN
Abenteuer im Möwenweg
HOw wonderful when the days get shorter, the lantern walk is up ahead! Tara and the other kids in the Möwenweg community love it, the lanterns shinging brightly in the dark, the singing together... but when they take a shortcut through the meadows, the utter darkness suddenly gets eery.
The Moewenweg series is a modern classic, with a bit of a Astrid Lindgren feel to it, and this is a wonderful beginning reader book for 2nd graders.
It works well to read aloud to bilinguals as well, of course.
7 years and up
Martina Baumbach
HERBST IM HOLUNDERWEG
Holundweg 7 is an apartment building full of families, and in this collection of read aloud stories we learn about all the typical fall activities of (German) kids.
They go out with kites, collect chestnuts , there is Halloween - and the absolut hightlight, the lantern walk.
With a few illustrations in color.
6 years and up
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