The Blue Boy (picture book) facts for kids

The Blue Boy is a special children's picture book. It was written by Martin Auer and has beautiful pictures by Simone Klages. The book was first published in 1991 in German. Its original name was Der blaue Junge.

Story of The Blue Boy

The Blue Boy lives on a planet where there is a lot of fighting. When his parents are lost, he feels so sad and empty. He has cried so much that he thinks he has no more tears left. Because of this, he decides he doesn't want to care about anyone else.

He doesn't want to be with a little dog, an old woman, or a girl who try to comfort him. Instead, he builds himself a big robot suit. He travels around in it, looking for someone who is safe from weapons.

At last, he meets an old man on the Moon. The old man lives in peace because there are no weapons there. But the Blue Boy still has his weapon with him. The old man offers to teach him about the people on Earth using a telescope. He wants the Blue Boy to learn why people fight and how to stop it. The Blue Boy agrees to put down his weapon so he can stay and learn. Perhaps one day he will return to his planet and share what he has learned.

About the Book's Creation

The book was first written in German. It was also translated into Japanese. An English version came out in 1992 from Macmillan.

Martin Auer first created this story for a German TV show called Siebenstein on the ZDF channel. Later, it became a book published by Beltz & Gelberg. This story is also in another book by Martin Auer called The Strange War. That collection has been translated into more than 25 languages.