FAZ Sunday stories: outsiders on adventures

Oh crap, it doesn't get much worse than this: at the very beginning of the story, Jonny Ant ends up in a huge pile of fox poo.

It's the fault of a couple of bad guys who ripped him off and lured him into a trap: bosses and the bosses.

The pricking of the strange spherical ant gives them the greatest pleasure.

Alexander Juergs

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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They really don't care how much Jonny suffers from it.

The fact that he isn't really an ant at all, but a dung beetle, is something his bullies are not aware of, but neither is he himself.

And the fact that the strange humming in his body is not a disease called "Brummps" (a "bacterioviral infection") will only become clear much later.

Luckily, Jonny has a strong friend in Butz.

She is also not a typical ant, but rather unusual in a charming way: anything but a hard worker, rather lazy, but a daring adventurer.

Together, the two outsiders make their way into the wilderness.

Dita Zipfel tells the story of the extraordinary heroes Jonny and Butz in “Brummps – They called him ant” with lots of wit and speed, in a very unique tone that is unusual for children's books.

The illustrations that the Italian-born draftswoman Bea Davies contributed to her book also make it special: With a few dynamic strokes, Davies sketches the ants, the dung beetle or a sneaky tit that is after Butz.

reading on Sunday

Zipfel, who was awarded the Youth Literature Prize 2020 for her debut “How madness explained to me the world”, and Davies met in Berlin.

The author and the illustrator quickly decided to create a children's book together, which was published by Hanser Verlag in the spring (15 euros, for everyone aged six and over).

You can now experience the two together on Sunday: in the FAZ Sunday stories.

The reading by Zipfel and Davies will take place from 3 to 4.30 p.m. in the Radio FFH broadcasting center in Bad Vilbel (FFH-Platz 1).

There they also report on how they worked together on the book and answer the children's questions.

After the reading, there is also the opportunity to have books signed by the two.

Tickets are available for five euros per person at

, Christine Mayer-Simon answers questions on 069 / 75 91 12 51, there are parking spaces in front of the broadcasting center.

Like all authors in the series, Zipfel and Davies read for free.

The entrance fees go entirely to the “FAZ readers help” campaign.

This time, donations are being collected for the outpatient children's hospice service Löwenzahn in Frankfurt, which advises and cares for families with children with life-threatening illnesses, and for the German Doctors, who send volunteer doctors to countries where there is a lack of basic health care.

In Nairobi, they want to set up a medical outpatient clinic in the Korogocho slum.

Further information on the fundraising campaign can be found on the Internet at

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