- Kids' Literature Writer Advises: Limit War Information for Young Readers
Eighty-six-year-old author Ursel Scheffler, renowned for her children's books like "Commissioner Kugelblitz," was hit with a wave of memories at the onset of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. She recounted to the German Press Agency in Hamburg, "All of a sudden, I was that kid in the air-raid shelter. I could hear the planes overhead, feel the grit, and smell the smoke again." As a six-year-old in 1944, she lived through the bombing of her hometown, Nuremberg, by Allied forces.
Now a mother of three grandmother of three, Scheffler has sold millions of books and audiobooks. She emphasizes the importance of shielding young people from stories about war tragedies. At the Leipzig Book Fair in the spring, she spoke with a Ukrainian author who wrote about the war and its casualties. Scheffler advised, "Please spare children their childhood, it flies by so fast. And don't burden them with the pain. Instead, provide them with an escape route for their thoughts and imagination."
For years, Scheffler has been an advocate for literacy. She served as an ambassador for the "Stiftung Lesen" in Mainz and initiated the "Book Towers" program in 2011. For her contributions, she was honored with the Biermann-Ratjen Medal by the Hanseatic City of Hamburg in 2018.
Book Bridges, Book Towers, and Storytelling Towers
Despite her urge to support the Ukrainian author, Scheffler firmly stated, "I'm not going to read or promote such literature aimed at children." Recognizing the fragility of children's innocence, she continued, "They should be allowed to enjoy their world, filled with dreams and adventure, not tainted by the grim realities of war."
