The Little Ghost facts for kids

The Little Ghost is a children's book written by Otfried Preußler in 1966. Franz Josef Tripp created the pictures for the book. It was first published by Thielemann. This book has been translated into 44 languages. It is one of the most famous German children's books.

The Little Ghost's Adventures

The Little Ghost lives in a castle called Eulenstein. Its best friend is a wise eagle-owl named Schuhu. The Little Ghost has a special bunch of keys. By shaking them, it can open any door or treasure chest without touching them.

The Little Ghost has one big wish: to see the world during the day. But it is a night ghost. It always wakes up at midnight and falls asleep before the sun rises. All its tries to stay awake after the witching hour fail.

One day, something amazing happens. The Little Ghost wakes up at noon instead of midnight! It explores the castle and sees a school class. While trying to hide, a sunbeam hits it. Suddenly, its color changes from white to black!

The black ghost jumps into the castle well. It finds a small door and ends up in the city's sewer system. The pipes are like a maze. It cannot find its way back to Eulenstein Castle. It opens many sewer exits, causing a lot of funny chaos in the city of Eulenburg. The people start calling it the "black stranger" (Schwarzer Unbekannter).

The Little Ghost causes a big stir during a festival. This festival celebrates the 325th anniversary of a historical event. Swedish soldiers once tried to take over the city. The Little Ghost attacks an actor playing the Swedish General Torstenson. It thinks the real General has returned! The Little Ghost had scared him away 325 years ago because his cannons were too loud.

After causing chaos, the Little Ghost asks the pharmacist's children for help. The children go to Eulenstein Castle at midnight to find Mr. Schuhu. The eagle-owl explains the problem. The town hall clock was set wrong! Every ghost must follow a special clock chime.

A watchmaker fixes the town hall clock. He changes it from noon back to midnight. Finally, the Little Ghost wakes up at night again. It can return to its castle. On its way back, a moonbeam hits it. Its color changes back to white! The Little Ghost is so happy. It dances on the castle roof all night long.

Main Characters

The Little Ghost

The Little Ghost is a friendly ghost that only appears at night. During the day, it sleeps in an old iron-covered chest in the castle attic. Usually, it is very peaceful and does not bother anyone. But if someone disturbs it, like the Swedish General Torsten Torstenson or the castle's governor, Mr. Georg-Kasimir, it can be quite mischievous!

The Little Ghost scared the Swedish General away because his cannons were too noisy. It also frightened the governor, Mr. Georg-Kasimir, so much that he jumped into the muddy castle moat. The Little Ghost even scared the mayor of Eulenberg, who said he didn't believe in ghosts!

However, the Little Ghost is also very helpful, curious, and kind. It helped Countess Genoveva Elisabeth Barbara find her valuable earrings. A magpie had stolen them from her window. The Little Ghost also felt sad that the people of Eulenberg were scared of it when it turned black.

The Eagle-Owl Schuhu

The eagle-owl Schuhu is the Little Ghost's best friend. He lives in an empty oak tree on the castle hill. Schuhu is old and very wise. He always insists that everyone speaks to him with respect. He also gives the Little Ghost good advice. Both the Little Ghost and the eagle-owl love to tell stories. With Schuhu's help, the Little Ghost finally finds its way back home to the castle.

The General Torsten Torstenson

General Torsten Torstenson was a Swedish general. He once tried to take over Eulenstein Castle and the city of Eulenberg. The Little Ghost could not sleep because of the loud cannons. So, it scared the General badly. The General ended his attack and left the next day with his army.

A painting of General Torsten Torstenson is still in the castle's knight hall. It reminds everyone of his attack. The Little Ghost sometimes talks to the painting. The Little Ghost even tried to stay awake after the witching hour using a special pocket alarm clock. The General had lost it during his attack.

During the 325th anniversary festival, the director of the local brewery plays the role of General Torsten Torstenson. This makes the Little Ghost believe the General has returned.

The Pharmacist's Children

Herbert, who is eleven, and his nine-year-old twin siblings, Jutta and Günther, help the Little Ghost. They help it find its way back home to the castle. The Little Ghost spends a night in the pharmacy's cellar. There, it overhears the children talking. It learns that the "Swedish General" and his soldiers were just actors.

At night, the three children sneak out. They go to find the eagle-owl Mr. Schuhu in his oak tree. They want to ask for his advice. They can understand the eagle-owl with the help of the Little Ghost's special bunch of keys. After talking to Mr. Schuhu, the children visit the watchmaker. They ask him to fix the town hall clock. He repairs it. The children also help the Little Ghost write a letter to the mayor. In the letter, the Little Ghost says sorry for the chaos it caused.

How the Story Began

When Otfried Preußler was a child, his grandmother Dora often told him stories. One story was about a White Lady (ghost). This ghost could predict births and deaths in her family. She also protected her home. Once, the white lady scared away the Swedish General Torstenson from her father's castle. She chased him out of his bed while he was still in his nightclothes!

Preußler always remembered this scene. While he was writing the story of the white lady, she changed into the Little Ghost we know today.

Different Book Versions

The original Thienemann edition of The Little Ghost was later published by many different companies. It also came out with new covers.

The original pictures by Franz Joseph Tripp were used for books published in other countries. But some versions had new pictures on the cover. For example, the Spanish version, “El pequeño fantasma,” and some Russian versions had new art. The Dutch version, “Het spookje,” had completely new pictures by Ingrid Schubert.

In 2013, when Preußler turned 90, Thienemann published two new versions. One was in color for the first time! It was also available as an e-book. An artist named Mathias Weber colored the original black and white pictures. This made the author's dream come true. Another new book was called “The Little Ghost – the book of the movie.” It came out with the movie around Preußler's birthday. Sadly, Otfried Preußler passed away in early 2013. He didn't get to see the new books or the movie.

For the 50th anniversary of The Little Ghost, Otfried Preußler's daughter, Susanne Preußler-Bitsch, published a picture book. It was called “The Little Ghost - Tohuwabohu in the castle Eulenstein.” This was Otfried Preußler's idea. Daniel Napp drew the pictures for this book.

Awards for the Book

• 1967: Chosen for the German Children's Literature Award list
• 1988: On the IBBY Honour List for the Greek translation

The Little Ghost in Other Forms

Audio Stories

In the 1970s, a company called Phonogram released a very popular audio version of the book. It was available on records and cassettes. Today, you can still find it from Universal Music. Christa Häussler was the voice of the Little Ghost. In 1996, this audio play won a Gold Record award. A newer version reached platinum status in 1998.

In 2008, the WDR WDR radio station also made an audio play. Fritzi Haberlandt was the storyteller, Jens Wawrczeck was the Little Ghost, and Friedhelm Ptok was the eagle-owl Mr. Schuhu. In 2011, they released an audiobook where Nora Tschirner read the full story.

When the movie came out in 2013, an extra audio play was released. The actors from the movie voiced their characters in this audio story.

Learning with the Little Ghost

In 1996, a teacher named Ursula Hänggi published a set of learning cards based on the book. These cards included worksheets, language games, and riddles to help with language learning.

In 1998 and 2005, two audio plays called “Learning English with The Little Ghost” were released. The 2005 version won a gold record in 2014. There were also French versions published in 2002 and 2005.

The Thienemann publisher also released a book called “The Little Ghost – Learning English with The Little Ghost.” This book explained difficult words at the end of each chapter. In 2004, a book to learn Italian, “The Little Ghost – words and pictures,” was published.

Movies

In 1969, The Little Ghost became a two-part puppet movie for television. Rudolf Fischer and Albrecht Roser were some of the puppeteers and also directed the movie.

The Soviet Soviet television made a live-action movie called “Ghost from Eulenburg” in Russian. It was based on Preußler's book. Anatoly Ravikovitch directed the movie and also played the Little Ghost.

In 1992, a cartoonist named Curt Linda made an animated cartoon called “The Little Ghost.” Elfriede Kuzmany voiced the Little Ghost, and Gustl Weishappel voiced the eagle-owl.

In 2013, Universum Film released a new movie called “The Little Ghost.” Alain Gsponer directed it. Anna Thalbach voiced the computer-animated Little Ghost. Wolfgang Hess voiced the eagle-owl. Uwe Ochsenknecht played both the mayor and General Torsten Torstenson. Herbert Knaup played the watchmaker Zifferle.

Games

In the 1970s, a company made a Happy Families card game with pictures from Preußler's book.

Kai Haferkamp created a board game called “The Little Ghost.” In 2005, this memory game won an award for the best children's game. In 2010, Haferkamp released a search game called “The Little Ghost – Souvenirs.”

In 2016, Haferkamp released three more games with the toy company Habermaaß. One was a Puzzle with three pictures from the book. They also released a memory game called “The Little Ghost – Race to the castle Eulenstein.” The third game was a 3D memory game called “The Little Ghost – haunting in Eulenstein.”

Theater Plays

Otfried Preußler wrote a stage play version of The Little Ghost. It was first performed in a theater in Rosenheim in 1989. Since 1990, other children's theaters have been able to perform it. Famous puppet theaters like the Augsburger Puppenkiste have performed the play.

Jewgenij Sitochin directed a children's opera based on Preußler's book. It first showed at the opera house in Graz Opernhaus Graz in 2011. Walther Soyka wrote the music, and Bernhard Studlar wrote the story for the opera.

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