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The Ragamuffins
A cock and a hen go in search of nuts and begin an adventure which proves them to be mischievous and irresponsible characters.
- GenresChildrens
26 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1989
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 11, 2025
Yes indeed, for the 1989 picture book The Ragamuffins, Bernadette Watts' retelling of Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm's Märchen Das Lumpengesindel (which is listed as being number ten in their Kinder- und Hausmärchen and is considered a Schwankmärchen, which in English indicates a humorous and often nonsensical folktale), Watts' words, how she has penned her text for The Raggamuffins (of a hen, a rooster, a duck, a needle, a pin and their various shenanigans), they both faithfully follow the Brothers Grimm's original (and of course German language) text and also streamline and trim the latter, so that I actually kind of like Bernadette Watts' retelling (and adaptation) of Das Lumpengesindel just a wee bit more. Because for me (both when I had Das Lumpengesindel read to me when I was a toddler and also when I used to listen to Das Lumpengesindel on vinyl) Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm's story for Das Lumpengesindel does get somewhat verbosely convoluted at times, that this sadly also then rather manages to bury and submerge the inherent and essential humour a trifle and which with Bernadette Watts tightening and abridging her retelling is very nicely mitigated, even avoided in The Raggamuffins (so that I am in fact laughing much more and much more joyfully at what I am textually encountering in The Raggamuffins than has been and still is the case with Das Lumpengesindel, since Watts takes away all of the superfluidity but leaves the essential core and as such also frees and puts on a wonderful narrative pedestal the humour, that which makes Das Lumpengesindel so funny).
And definitely, Das Lumpengesindel is absolutely meant to make readers and listeners laugh, as the contents of the tale (both in the Grimms' original and in English translations) are indeed delightfully silly, with the hen and the rooster basically using the needle and the pin to proverbially and physically stick it to their host, to the innkeeper (and with the egg shells also flying into the latter's face) presenting really hilarious scenarios (and also showing the lowly triumphing over the the uppity as well). However, while in Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten (The Town Musicians of Bremen and to which Das Lumpengesindel (The Raggamuffins) is often being compared, the band of robbers is described and shown by Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm as hugely nasty, as evil and therefore equally as utterly deserving being driven from their abode and their ill gotten gains by the donkey, the dog, the cat and the rooster, well, the owner of the inn in Das Lumpengesidnel is basically just trying to run his business (and while I do very much laugh at how the hen and the rooster trick the innkeeper and manage to pierce his face with the needle and the pin, I actually always feel rather guilty at my laughter and my Schadenfreude since both the hen and the rooster are simply being mean and nasty because they can and not because they somehow have a legitimate complaint regarding the landlord and an excusable reason for their behaviour).
But still, I have always enjoyed Das Lumpengesindel even with (and as shown above) Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm's text being a bit unnecessarily convoluted. And no, the mean spirited antics of the rooster and the hen towards both the duck and the innkeeper and simply for their own sake has also not turned me nasty and will equally in my opinion not make children misbehave either. But considering the general contents of Das Lumpengesindel and that The Ragamuffins has Bernadette Watts textually retain ALL of this, including how the needle and the pin are somewhat tipsy after consuming beer and thus more than happy to hitch a ride with the hen, the rooster and the duck, I will probably not be recommending The Ragamuffins for families, for potential readers where alcohol consumption and troubling or potentially troubling behaviours in picture books and in folktales are a major and huge no-no (although I personally do not think that textually and visually, there is anything actually inappropriate regarding The Ragamuffins but that I do realise how in particular beer and nasty shenanigans for basically no reason could bother and upset some readers and in particular some parents).
Now with regard to Bernadette Watts' accompanying artwork for The Raggamuffins, yes, for the most part her colourfully realistic and at the same time nicely imaginative pictures do a wonderful and delightfully descriptive aesthetic job mirroring and sometimes also visually expanding on her presented text, on her retelling of Das Lumpengesindel (with me especially appreciating that while the rooster, the hen and the duck are clearly anthropomorphic, they are happily and fortunately not shown by Watts as being clad in human clothing). However, I do find it a trifle visually annoying and disconcerting that instead of having the host, the landlord for The Ragamuffins be illustrated as a man (and like he is at least in my opinion textually described and shown both in Das Lumpengesindel and also in Bernadette Watts' retelling for The Raggamuffins) Watts has the innkeeper be a cat (and a cat wearing an apron at that), not a huge deal, but this does aesthetically bother me and to also lower my original consideration of four stars for The Ragamuffins to only three (and to also once again point out that no author's note in The Ragamuffins, that no supplemental details on Das Lumpendsindel as a folktale and on its genesis is frustrating for me and especially since for Das Lumpengesindel it is known that the Brothers Grimm specifically collected this tale in the German city of Paderborn).
And definitely, Das Lumpengesindel is absolutely meant to make readers and listeners laugh, as the contents of the tale (both in the Grimms' original and in English translations) are indeed delightfully silly, with the hen and the rooster basically using the needle and the pin to proverbially and physically stick it to their host, to the innkeeper (and with the egg shells also flying into the latter's face) presenting really hilarious scenarios (and also showing the lowly triumphing over the the uppity as well). However, while in Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten (The Town Musicians of Bremen and to which Das Lumpengesindel (The Raggamuffins) is often being compared, the band of robbers is described and shown by Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm as hugely nasty, as evil and therefore equally as utterly deserving being driven from their abode and their ill gotten gains by the donkey, the dog, the cat and the rooster, well, the owner of the inn in Das Lumpengesidnel is basically just trying to run his business (and while I do very much laugh at how the hen and the rooster trick the innkeeper and manage to pierce his face with the needle and the pin, I actually always feel rather guilty at my laughter and my Schadenfreude since both the hen and the rooster are simply being mean and nasty because they can and not because they somehow have a legitimate complaint regarding the landlord and an excusable reason for their behaviour).
But still, I have always enjoyed Das Lumpengesindel even with (and as shown above) Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm's text being a bit unnecessarily convoluted. And no, the mean spirited antics of the rooster and the hen towards both the duck and the innkeeper and simply for their own sake has also not turned me nasty and will equally in my opinion not make children misbehave either. But considering the general contents of Das Lumpengesindel and that The Ragamuffins has Bernadette Watts textually retain ALL of this, including how the needle and the pin are somewhat tipsy after consuming beer and thus more than happy to hitch a ride with the hen, the rooster and the duck, I will probably not be recommending The Ragamuffins for families, for potential readers where alcohol consumption and troubling or potentially troubling behaviours in picture books and in folktales are a major and huge no-no (although I personally do not think that textually and visually, there is anything actually inappropriate regarding The Ragamuffins but that I do realise how in particular beer and nasty shenanigans for basically no reason could bother and upset some readers and in particular some parents).
Now with regard to Bernadette Watts' accompanying artwork for The Raggamuffins, yes, for the most part her colourfully realistic and at the same time nicely imaginative pictures do a wonderful and delightfully descriptive aesthetic job mirroring and sometimes also visually expanding on her presented text, on her retelling of Das Lumpengesindel (with me especially appreciating that while the rooster, the hen and the duck are clearly anthropomorphic, they are happily and fortunately not shown by Watts as being clad in human clothing). However, I do find it a trifle visually annoying and disconcerting that instead of having the host, the landlord for The Ragamuffins be illustrated as a man (and like he is at least in my opinion textually described and shown both in Das Lumpengesindel and also in Bernadette Watts' retelling for The Raggamuffins) Watts has the innkeeper be a cat (and a cat wearing an apron at that), not a huge deal, but this does aesthetically bother me and to also lower my original consideration of four stars for The Ragamuffins to only three (and to also once again point out that no author's note in The Ragamuffins, that no supplemental details on Das Lumpendsindel as a folktale and on its genesis is frustrating for me and especially since for Das Lumpengesindel it is known that the Brothers Grimm specifically collected this tale in the German city of Paderborn).
July 24, 2012
The illustrations are very whimsical and fun. Like this version a lot.
July 29, 2011
Black and white illustrations alternate with brightly colored pages in this retelling of the story of providing hospitality to ragamuffins.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews