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Newly published »Jim Knopf« book (left) and previous cover in comparison: stereotyped descriptions reduced

Photo: Thienemann Verlage

Not only since the big "Winnetou" dispute in the summer of 2022 have parents been wondering how they should deal with children's book classics from the past.

Should you use certain terms that are now considered inappropriate when reading aloud or not?

For the publishers who publish the classics, the question arises at the latest when new editions are due.

Then they are faced with the question: Should the books be revised?

Or leave everything as it is?

The publisher of the children's book publisher Thienemann has now decided to change the text in a new edition of the two "Jim Knopf" novels that will be published on February 24th.

In coordination with Michael Ende's heirs, the Stuttgart publishing house has removed, among other things, the "N-word" from the books.

In addition, the drawing by Jim Knopf on the cover pages was adapted in consultation with the heir of illustrator FJ Tripp, the publisher explained in a press release.

"So that children who read the books now do not adopt these linguistic elements into their everyday vocabulary, the estate and publisher have decided, after careful consideration, to delete the N-word and reduce the stereotypical descriptions," the statement states.

We are sure that we have acted in the spirit of Michael Ende, "who was known to be cosmopolitan, respectful and always for the children."

Thick pink lips

At the beginning of the 1960s, Michael Ende deliberately only put the "N-word" in Mr. Sleeve's mouth "to point out the lack of cosmopolitanism of this typical subject," according to the publisher and his descendants.

Today, such distant use could also be viewed as discriminatory.

The same applies to the equation of black and dirty skin, which Michael Ende uses as one of the stylistic devices to particularly emphasize the close connection between Jim Knopf and the train driver Lukas.

Against the background of black people's experiences of racism, it was also decided to revise the exaggerated depiction of Jim Knopf by the illustrator FJ Tripp.

Like his fatherly friend Lukas, Jim Knopf has a crosswise oval head, the same spherical eyes, rather protruding ears and a wide mouth.

But it is the thick pink lips and the black skin, which flows into the black hair without borders, that could be irritating when viewed today.

New position of the publisher

How much the publisher struggled with the decision was shown in the past.

In 2015, when an anniversary edition celebrating the 55th year of publication of “Jim Knopf and Lukas the Engine Driver” was published, Thienemann-Esslinger decided against changing a racist name for Jim Knopf.

At the time, the publisher justified the decision on the one hand by saying that the writer Michael Ende, who died in 1995, could no longer comment on it;

on the other hand, because the “N-word” only appears in one scene, which primarily serves to portray Mr. Hülse, a character from the book, as a know-it-all.

Bärbel Dorweiler described “two very clear positions” to SPIEGEL in 2022.

On the one hand, there were those who said the books were outdated.

They should be revised, terms exchanged, deleted, replaced.

On the other hand, those who say that a text is a work of art that should be preserved and cannot be interfered with.

In the new edition that has now appeared, people apparently also found the fact that the young Jim Knopf has a pipe in his mouth irritating - it was removed on the new covers.

The changes will be implemented in the new editions of the color illustrated editions published in 2015, it said.

The editions with the original black and white original illustrations are available unchanged for fans of faithfulness to the work.

However, they will contain an afterword in the future.

Feb