The Crown Snatchers
Encyclopedia
The Crown Snatchers is a self-described "superstorybook" written by German authors F. K. Waechter
and Bernd Eilert. It is the English translation of Die Kronenklauer, which was first published in 1972 by Rowohlt Verlag in Germany. Two years later, Pantheon Books
and Random House of Canada, Ltd.
published the English translation in the United States and Canada, respectively.
The book follows the adventures of three young children; Robert, Joanna, and Moritz; who run afoul of the local tyrant, King Fatback. He imprisons them and subjects them to a strict regimen of brainwashing. However, the children soon learn that all is not as it seems in the castle. They and a like minded friend devise a plan to bring just rule to the land.
animals. We find Robert, Joanna, and Moritz hard at work trying to reach hazelnuts in three tall trees. They make the acquaintance of a dignified owl
, Dr. Loy, who is suddenly scared off by the sound of an approaching motor. The children watch bemused as King Fatback's royal limousine approaches. The King himself, a pig, accuses them of stealing his nuts. They are taken to the castle and introduced to the caretaker, a matronly cat named Miss Bellmouse, who places them in separate rooms. Life at the castle is a regimented series of rings, gongs, bells, and buzzers that announce one dismal activity after another: sleep; lessons taught by the unpleasant teacher-dog, Mr. Prouch; brainwashing lectures given by the king's overbearing cousin Clemens; flavorless meals; and a weekly trip to the playroom.
The children rebel at every possible turn despite being held against their will. They talk back to Mr. Prouch and, when he loses his spectacles in a rage, make their first escape attempt. However, it fails when they find themselves caught climbing over the castle's surrounding wall. They also start a food fight
at dinner one night.
One day, while alone in the playroom, Robert discovers a hole in the wall behind a large wardrobe. The hole leads to a dusty store room that contains what they first think is a gray hose but which turns out to be the trunk of Holger, the elephant, who is locked in the next room and is sticking his trunk through a hole in the door. Holger tells the children about Crown Day, an impending holiday in which he will be forced cart the king around in the Royal Litter (a box-like seat which straps to Holger's back) so that all the animals may see and honor the king. The children suggest the idea of stealing the king's crown, though no one ventures a specific plan.
The next week, the children meet Holger in the storeroom and tell stories about whimsical dreams they have had. Holger presents them with a daring plan, to which the children agree. The three fake an escape, pretending to have broken out of the play room window, but in fact they return to the storeroom and hide inside the Royal Litter. The castle is in an uproar searching for them, but the children pass the time with Holger telling stories, and eventually fall asleep.
That night Robert dreams that the snatched crown falls onto the head of Dr. Loy.
The next day is August 21, Crown Day, and the children wake to find themselves inside the litter being strapped to Holger's back. They are not discovered, and the Crown Day parade commences. The party reaches a bridge and springs the plan into action: Holger uses his trunk to blow a smoke screen, grabs the crown, and passes it to the concealed children. He pretends that the crown rolled off the bridge. The king's party desperately searches the water, which allows the children to escape with the crown. Disgraced, Fatback and Clemens skip town that night.
The children reach Dr. Loy, present him with the crown, and ask him to be the new king. He accepts, and the next day he holds a meeting with all the townspeople. King Loy changes the kingdom's motto
from Let the People Serve the King to Let the King Serve the People, and announces that each citizen may choose his or her occupation. Thus, the kingdom shifts from totalitarianism
to a constitutional monarchy
.
The next part begins much like the first scene: The three children lie in the meadow. They visit with their friends, who are all hard at work at their new jobs. At first they beg for their food, but then realize they need occupations if they are going to survive. They get a job at the bakery under the tutelage of the lion, Hubert Knapsack. He gives them the job of baking a "dignified" cake for one of King Loy's official functions. They bake a cake in the form of King Loy himself, but the king dismisses the cake as inappropriate for the occasion and unbefitting his stature. When Hubert finds out, he is enraged and sues them. The children are tried in court, found guilty, and lose their jobs. When they ask how they are to eat, the king replies, "To decide that is not the function of a court of arbitration."
Soon after, the king awakes to discover the crown is once again missing. He calls a meeting of all the people under the assumption that the thief or thieves will not appear. Sure enough, the children are among the absent. After much speculation, the children appear with Holger and friends. They carry a bag that makes odd clinking sounds. They have changed the monarchy into a democracy
by melting the crown down into many small crowns, one for each person.
The book ends as it began, with the acknowledgement that the story was made up.
. They range from quickly sketched cartoons to comic strips to detailed pen and ink renderings and paintings (which, apart from the cover illustration, are printed in black and white). There is hardly a page in the book that does not have an illustration.
, a Caesar cipher
, a folding puzzle, a tessellation
, and drawings which must be completed. There is silly poetry, illustrations from the characters' imaginations, several maps, a cut-out model of King Fatback, a story told phonetically using single letters and digits, and other features that defy simple description.
It is notable that many of the puns, puzzles, and jokes depend on word play, which must have resulted in substantial re-writing during translation. Besides names, the only German words that appear in The Crown Snatchers are "Baden Verboten" ("No Swimming"), which appear on the main map on a sign next to the river.
animals.
F. K. Waechter
Friedrich Karl Waechter was a renowned German cartoonist, author, and playwright.-Life:Waechter was born in Danzig as a son of a teacher...
and Bernd Eilert. It is the English translation of Die Kronenklauer, which was first published in 1972 by Rowohlt Verlag in Germany. Two years later, Pantheon Books
Pantheon Books
Pantheon Books is an American imprint with editorial independence that is part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.The current editor-in-chief at Pantheon Books is Dan Frank.-Overview:...
and Random House of Canada, Ltd.
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
published the English translation in the United States and Canada, respectively.
The book follows the adventures of three young children; Robert, Joanna, and Moritz; who run afoul of the local tyrant, King Fatback. He imprisons them and subjects them to a strict regimen of brainwashing. However, the children soon learn that all is not as it seems in the castle. They and a like minded friend devise a plan to bring just rule to the land.
Plot synopsis
The story begins by introducing itself as a made-up story. It introduces the three children as the principal characters and considers a number of settings before deciding on a meadow. It turns out that the meadow lies within a small kingdom inhabited by the three children and a variety of anthropomorphicAnthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...
animals. We find Robert, Joanna, and Moritz hard at work trying to reach hazelnuts in three tall trees. They make the acquaintance of a dignified owl
Owl
Owls are a group of birds that belong to the order Strigiformes, constituting 200 bird of prey species. Most are solitary and nocturnal, with some exceptions . Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, although a few species specialize in hunting fish...
, Dr. Loy, who is suddenly scared off by the sound of an approaching motor. The children watch bemused as King Fatback's royal limousine approaches. The King himself, a pig, accuses them of stealing his nuts. They are taken to the castle and introduced to the caretaker, a matronly cat named Miss Bellmouse, who places them in separate rooms. Life at the castle is a regimented series of rings, gongs, bells, and buzzers that announce one dismal activity after another: sleep; lessons taught by the unpleasant teacher-dog, Mr. Prouch; brainwashing lectures given by the king's overbearing cousin Clemens; flavorless meals; and a weekly trip to the playroom.
The children rebel at every possible turn despite being held against their will. They talk back to Mr. Prouch and, when he loses his spectacles in a rage, make their first escape attempt. However, it fails when they find themselves caught climbing over the castle's surrounding wall. They also start a food fight
Food fight
A food fight is a form of chaotic collective behavior, in which food is thrown at others in the manner of projectiles. These projectiles are not made to harm or damage others, but to simply ignite a fight filled with spontaneous food throwing. Food fights may be impromptu examples of rebellion or...
at dinner one night.
One day, while alone in the playroom, Robert discovers a hole in the wall behind a large wardrobe. The hole leads to a dusty store room that contains what they first think is a gray hose but which turns out to be the trunk of Holger, the elephant, who is locked in the next room and is sticking his trunk through a hole in the door. Holger tells the children about Crown Day, an impending holiday in which he will be forced cart the king around in the Royal Litter (a box-like seat which straps to Holger's back) so that all the animals may see and honor the king. The children suggest the idea of stealing the king's crown, though no one ventures a specific plan.
The next week, the children meet Holger in the storeroom and tell stories about whimsical dreams they have had. Holger presents them with a daring plan, to which the children agree. The three fake an escape, pretending to have broken out of the play room window, but in fact they return to the storeroom and hide inside the Royal Litter. The castle is in an uproar searching for them, but the children pass the time with Holger telling stories, and eventually fall asleep.
That night Robert dreams that the snatched crown falls onto the head of Dr. Loy.
The next day is August 21, Crown Day, and the children wake to find themselves inside the litter being strapped to Holger's back. They are not discovered, and the Crown Day parade commences. The party reaches a bridge and springs the plan into action: Holger uses his trunk to blow a smoke screen, grabs the crown, and passes it to the concealed children. He pretends that the crown rolled off the bridge. The king's party desperately searches the water, which allows the children to escape with the crown. Disgraced, Fatback and Clemens skip town that night.
The children reach Dr. Loy, present him with the crown, and ask him to be the new king. He accepts, and the next day he holds a meeting with all the townspeople. King Loy changes the kingdom's motto
Motto
A motto is a phrase meant to formally summarize the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. A motto may be in any language, but Latin is the most used. The local language is usual in the mottoes of governments...
from Let the People Serve the King to Let the King Serve the People, and announces that each citizen may choose his or her occupation. Thus, the kingdom shifts from totalitarianism
Totalitarianism
Totalitarianism is a political system where the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible...
to a constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a constitution, whether it be a written, uncodified or blended constitution...
.
The next part begins much like the first scene: The three children lie in the meadow. They visit with their friends, who are all hard at work at their new jobs. At first they beg for their food, but then realize they need occupations if they are going to survive. They get a job at the bakery under the tutelage of the lion, Hubert Knapsack. He gives them the job of baking a "dignified" cake for one of King Loy's official functions. They bake a cake in the form of King Loy himself, but the king dismisses the cake as inappropriate for the occasion and unbefitting his stature. When Hubert finds out, he is enraged and sues them. The children are tried in court, found guilty, and lose their jobs. When they ask how they are to eat, the king replies, "To decide that is not the function of a court of arbitration."
Soon after, the king awakes to discover the crown is once again missing. He calls a meeting of all the people under the assumption that the thief or thieves will not appear. Sure enough, the children are among the absent. After much speculation, the children appear with Holger and friends. They carry a bag that makes odd clinking sounds. They have changed the monarchy into a democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
by melting the crown down into many small crowns, one for each person.
The book ends as it began, with the acknowledgement that the story was made up.
Illustrations
The Crown Snatchers is full of illustrations by F. K. WaechterF. K. Waechter
Friedrich Karl Waechter was a renowned German cartoonist, author, and playwright.-Life:Waechter was born in Danzig as a son of a teacher...
. They range from quickly sketched cartoons to comic strips to detailed pen and ink renderings and paintings (which, apart from the cover illustration, are printed in black and white). There is hardly a page in the book that does not have an illustration.
Activities
The story is frequently interrupted by the characters discussing puzzles, recounting dreams, unrelated stories (usually unfinished with the suggestion that the reader think of an ending), or mere asides. The puzzles include simple fill-in-the-blanks and connect-the-dots games, visual punsPuns
Puns may refer to:*Partido de Unión Nacional Saharaui, the Sahrawi political party* Pun, figure of speech* Phoenicians...
, a Caesar cipher
Caesar cipher
In cryptography, a Caesar cipher, also known as a Caesar's cipher, the shift cipher, Caesar's code or Caesar shift, is one of the simplest and most widely known encryption techniques. It is a type of substitution cipher in which each letter in the plaintext is replaced by a letter some fixed number...
, a folding puzzle, a tessellation
Tessellation
A tessellation or tiling of the plane is a pattern of plane figures that fills the plane with no overlaps and no gaps. One may also speak of tessellations of parts of the plane or of other surfaces. Generalizations to higher dimensions are also possible. Tessellations frequently appeared in the art...
, and drawings which must be completed. There is silly poetry, illustrations from the characters' imaginations, several maps, a cut-out model of King Fatback, a story told phonetically using single letters and digits, and other features that defy simple description.
It is notable that many of the puns, puzzles, and jokes depend on word play, which must have resulted in substantial re-writing during translation. Besides names, the only German words that appear in The Crown Snatchers are "Baden Verboten" ("No Swimming"), which appear on the main map on a sign next to the river.
Cast
Except for the three children, all of the characters in the main story are anthropomorphicAnthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...
animals.
- Robert, Joanna, and Moritz: The child protagonists
- Dr. Johannes Loy: The owlOwlOwls are a group of birds that belong to the order Strigiformes, constituting 200 bird of prey species. Most are solitary and nocturnal, with some exceptions . Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, although a few species specialize in hunting fish...
doctor - King Fatback: The pigPigA pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig, its ancestor the wild boar, and several other wild relatives...
king - The King's guards: various dogs
- Miss Bellmouse: The king's catCatThe cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
caretaker - Mr. Prouch: The dog teacher
- Charley Coffer: The badgerBadgerBadgers are short-legged omnivores in the weasel family, Mustelidae. There are nine species of badger, in three subfamilies : Melinae , Mellivorinae , and Taxideinae...
poet - Littleboom: The roosterRoosterA rooster, also known as a cockerel, cock or chanticleer, is a male chicken with the female being called a hen. Immature male chickens of less than a year's age are called cockerels...
doctor - Clemens: The king's cousin, also a pig
- Holger: The elephantElephantElephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
gardener - Helmut Helmutson: The foxFoxFox is a common name for many species of omnivorous mammals belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small to medium-sized canids , characterized by possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail .Members of about 37 species are referred to as foxes, of which only 12 species actually belong to...
farmer - Bostock: The sealPinnipedPinnipeds or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semiaquatic marine mammals comprising the families Odobenidae , Otariidae , and Phocidae .-Overview: Pinnipeds are typically sleek-bodied and barrel-shaped...
inkeeper - Captain Hubble: The crocodileCrocodileA crocodile is any species belonging to the family Crocodylidae . The term can also be used more loosely to include all extant members of the order Crocodilia: i.e...
swimming pool manager - Hubert Knapsack: The lionLionThe lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
baker - Eberhard Luck: The bearBearBears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...
forester - Rushbank: The beaverBeaverThe beaver is a primarily nocturnal, large, semi-aquatic rodent. Castor includes two extant species, North American Beaver and Eurasian Beaver . Beavers are known for building dams, canals, and lodges . They are the second-largest rodent in the world...
fix-it man - Phineas: the fishFishFish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
storekeeper - Carlo Spannagel: the donkeyDonkeyThe donkey or ass, Equus africanus asinus, is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African Wild Ass, E...
carpenter