The Opodeldoks (novel)
The Opodeldoks is a children's book by Sepp Strubel and Paul Maar that was published in 1985. It is based on the book written by Paul Maar for the production of the same name for the Augsburger Puppenkiste .
action
The Opodeldoks - little Deldok, his father, his grandparents and his uncle - live in the grasslands, where they grow grass and keep chickens. The grassland is surrounded by high mountains. Deldok is very interested in what's behind the mountains; however, his family tells him that there is nothing behind the mountains. This explanation does not satisfy Deldok, and so he makes various unsuccessful attempts to look out over the mountains. Finally, with the help of the intelligent hen Helene, he builds a flying machine with which he leaves the grasslands. On the other side of the mountains, Deldok and Helene land in woodland, where they are separated from each other in an emergency landing. Deldok meets the forest people's family and learns that they too explain to their daughter Mogla that you cannot cross the mountains because there is nothing on the other side. Deldok tries to establish contact with the forest people, but they chase him away because they don't want anything to do with Opodeldoks.
Deldok observes that the habitat of the forest people is threatened by robots that cut down the trees. At the same time, the hen Helene flies alone through the woodland and tracks down the origins of the robots. She discovers that another opodeldok lives in the woodlands: the silverdeldok, which uses the wood to smelt silver ore in order to expand his silver collection.
In the meantime the Opodeldoks miss the young Deldok in the grasslands. After much thought, Deldok's grandfather remembers that there used to be a tunnel to the other side of the mountains. Together, the Opodeldoks expose the tunnel and finally reach the woodland.
When Deldok meets Mogla again, he succeeds in convincing her that not all Opodeldoks are enemies of the forest people, and the two children become friends. By working together with the newly arrived Opodeldoks, the robots can be rendered harmless and the Silverdeldok captured.
Two years later, the Opodeldoks and the forest people live in close contact with each other. The tunnel remains open, and Deldok and Mogla visit each other regularly and learn about the peculiarities of the forest and grassland. The Silberdeldok is also allowed to live with the Opodeldoks after its robots have been converted for peaceful gardening and for transporting chicken eggs.
subjects
The central theme of the novel is the limitation of one's own horizon by supposedly insurmountable boundaries and their eventual overcoming. Both the forest people and the Opodeldoks suppress the existence of a country other than their own and forbid their children to cross the border there. Due to the curiosity and fearlessness of the two children, both countries are finally reunited and their population grows together by reflecting on their similarities instead of their differences. The book was created against the background of the division of Germany .
Another topic is the struggle of a community against environmental destruction through the greed of individuals.
Expenses (selection)
- The Opodeldoks. Written down by Sepp Strubel based on an idea and with many drawings by Paul Maar. Oetinger, Hamburg 1985, ISBN 3-7891-1726-9 .
- The Opodeldoks. Illustrations by Barbara Scholz . Oetinger, Hamburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-7891-4285-7 .
Edits
Based on the production of the Augsburger Puppenkiste from 1980, there are various theater adaptations. A stage version by Thomas Klischke and Sophie Linnenbaum was premiered in 2007 in the Franconian Theater Schloss Maßbach . They also wrote a musical play on the same basis, which was shown on the Hohensyburg natural stage in 2001 and 2012 .
A staged reading by Stefan Kaminski , directed by Frank Gustavus , was published by Verlag Oetinger Audio in 2010 ( ISBN 978-3-8373-0508-1 ).
Individual evidence
- ↑ kindertheater.de ( Memento of the original from March 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ naturbuehne.de
