Angela Sommer-Bodenburg

Last updated
Angela Sommer-Bodenburg
Born (1948-12-18) 18 December 1948 (age 75)
Reinbek, Germany
Occupation Novelist
NationalityGerman
Genre Fantasy
Notable works The Little Vampire series
Website
www.angelasommer-bodenburg.com

Angela Sommer-Bodenburg (born December 18, 1948) is the author of a number of fantasy books for children. Her most famous contribution to the field of children's fantasy is The Little Vampire series, which has sold over 10 million copies and has been translated into over 30 languages. Sommer-Bodenburg states that her "vampire is not a bloodthirsty monster, however, but an affectionate little vampire with fears and foibles who will perhaps help free children of their own fears." [1] The novel, written in 1979, spawned a series of books, and the plot has been adapted to theatre, radio, cinema, and television. A Canadian-German TV series was released in 1986 and a film version, directed by Uli Edel was released in 2000. Later a CG-animated film The Little Vampire 3D , directed by Richard Claus and Karsten Kiilerich, was released in 2017.

Contents

Life and career

Sommer-Bodenburg was born in Reinbek, Germany. [1] She studied education, philosophy, and sociology at the University of Hamburg. She was assistant master at intermediate and secondary school in Hamburg, West Germany from 1972 to 1984 [1] and wrote the first chapter of The Little Vampire as an experiment to see what types of literature could hold the interest of her students. [2] In 1984, she retired from teaching and dedicated herself to painting and writing. She has written more than forty books both for children and adults, from poetry to novels. She calls the success of the Little Vampire series a "mixed blessing" to her career as an author, stating on her website: "I was pigeon-holed as the author of children's books and, within this pigeon-hole, I was further classified as the author of vampire books." [2]

She moved to Rancho Santa Fe, California, in 1992 after visiting the production company, Propaganda Films, in Hollywood that wished to make the film version of The Little Vampire. In 2004, she moved to Silver City, New Mexico. [2]

Bibliography

English

The Little Vampire series

The first five books of Sommer-Bodenburg's debut series (original German title: Der kleine Vampir ), when released in the United States, all excluded the word "Little" from the title. The first book was also released as My Friend the Vampire. Only volumes 1-5 were released in the United States. All other English translations were released in the United Kingdom.

Andersen Press
  • The Little Vampire, vol. #1
  • The Little Vampire Moves In, vol. #2
  • The Little Vampire Takes a Trip, vol. #3
  • The Little Vampire On the Farm, vol. #4
  • The Little Vampire In Love, vol. #5
Simon & Schuster Young Books
  • The Little Vampire In Danger, vol. #6
  • The Little Vampire In the Vale Of Doom, vol. #7
  • The Little Vampire In Despair, vol. #8
  • The Little Vampire and the Mystery Patient, vol. #9
  • The Little Vampire In the Lion's Den, vol. #10
  • The Little Vampire Learns To Be Brave, vol. #11
  • The Little Vampire Gets a Surprise, vol. #12
  • The Little Vampire and the Wicked Plot, vol. #13
  • The Little Vampire and the School Trip, vol. #14
  • The Little Vampire and the Christmas Surprise, vol. #15
MacDonald Young Books
  • The Little Vampire Meets Count Dracula, vol. # 16
Scholastic
  • The Little Vampire Activity Book
Untranslated to English

These have yet to be released with an English translation.

  • The Little Vampire and the Dance Hour, vol #17
  • The Little Vampire Has a Birthday, vol #18
  • The Little Vampire and the Night of the Shivers, vol. #19
  • The Little Vampire and the Last Conversion, vol #20
  • The Little Vampire and the Question of Questions, vol #21

Others

  • But Still, I Love Her Just The Same:Poems (Poetry)
  • If You Want To Scare Yourself (Short stories)
  • Coco's Birthday Surprise (children's book)

German

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mascha Kaléko</span> German poet

Mascha Kaléko was a German-language poet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Holm</span> German singer, musician, songwriter and record producer

Michael Holm is a German singer, musician, songwriter and record producer. He is primarily known as a singer of Schlager music. Although his first appearance in the hit parade was in 1962, he had his first big hit in 1969. "Mendocino", the German adaptation of a song by the Sir Douglas Quintet, was the biggest selling single that year in (Germany). The record was released in September 1969, reached number three for five weeks, selling over a million copies. Ariola presented him with a gold record in October 1970.

<i>The Little Vampire</i> (film) 2000 film

The Little Vampire is a 2000 comedy horror film loosely based on the children's book series of the same name by German writer Angela Sommer-Bodenburg, about a boy who tries to save a young vampire and his family from a ruthless vampire hunter. It was directed by Uli Edel and written by Karey Kirkpatrick and Larry Wilson. The film stars Jonathan Lipnicki, Rollo Weeks, Richard E. Grant, Jim Carter, and Alice Krige.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ireen Sheer</span> German-English singer

Ireen Sheer is a German-English singer. She had her first major hit in 1970 with Hey Pleasure Man. She had a top five hit on the German singles chart with "Goodbye Mama" in 1973. She went on to finish fourth at the Eurovision Song Contest 1974 representing Luxembourg, sixth at the Eurovision Song Contest 1978 representing Germany, and thirteenth at the Eurovision Song Contest 1985 representing Luxembourg again.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lena Valaitis</span> Lithuanian–German schlager singer (born 1943)

Lena Valaitis is a Lithuanian–German schlager singer who had her greatest success during the 1970s and 1980s. She finished second at the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simone Stelzer</span> Musical artist

Simone Stelzer is an Austrian pop singer.

Jutta Richter is a German author of children's and youth literature.

Irina Korschunow was a German writer. Her oeuvre comprises short stories, novels theatrical works and film scripts. Born in Stendal, she started her career as a journalist and writer for children's books and young adult literature but focused predominantly on writing novels in her later years since about 1983. She was also a translator.

Der kleine Vampir – Neue Abenteuer is a German children's television series made in 1993. The series counts 13 episodes and is based upon the books The Little Vampire Takes a Trip and The Little Vampire on the Farm, which are part of the Der kleine Vampir series written by German author Angela Sommer-Bodenburg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christine Brückner</span> German writer

Christine Brückner was a German writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth Shaw (artist)</span> Irish artist, illustrator and childrens book author

Elizabeth Shaw was an Irish artist, illustrator and children's book author, active in Germany.

<i>The Little Vampire</i> (book series) Novel series by Angela Sommer-Bodenburg

The Little Vampire is the title of a series of children's fantasy books created in 1979 by Angela Sommer-Bodenburg. The overall plot deals with the friendship between a human boy called Anton and Rüdiger, a vampire boy. The basic idea dates back to 1976, when Sommer-Bodenburg wrote short stories about the adventures of the little vampire and a human boy, finally collecting them and forming the series' plot from them.

Erwin Moser was an Austrian children's and young adult books' author and illustrator. He is best known for his children's book series Manuel & Didi, which he illustrated himself, using a text comics format.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gisela Steineckert</span> East German songwriter, screenwriter and author

Gisela Steineckert is a German writer known for her books and song lyrics. She has also written numerous radio plays and several film scripts. In terms of published output she was particularly prolific before 1989, but her professional career has nevertheless outlasted the German Democratic Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Veronika Fischer</span> German singer

Veronika Fischer, also called Vroni, is a German singer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elke Erb</span> German author-poet (1938–2024)

Elke Erb was a German author-poet based in Berlin. She also worked as a literary editor and translator.

<i>Svendborger Gedichte</i> Poetry collection by Bertolt Brecht

Svendborger Gedichte is a poetry collection by the German poet and playwright Bertolt Brecht, and the last collection of new poems to be published while he lived. The collection is named after the town of Svendborg on the Danish island of Funen, where Brecht lived during his exile from Nazi Germany. During this period, Hanns Eisler stayed several times to set a large group of the poems to music in collaboration with Brecht.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">G. G. Anderson</span> German singer and composer

Gerd Günther Grabowski, better known by his stage name G. G. Anderson, is a German Schlager singer, composer, and music producer.

Peter Gotthardt is a German composer, musician and publisher. Film melodies composed by him are known to a wide audience, including major successes such as the pieces Wenn ein Mensch lebt and Geh zu ihr performed by the Puhdys from the 1973 DEFA feature film The Legend of Paul and Paula, directed by Heiner Carow.

Karla Schneider is a German writer.

References

  1. 1 2 3