Der Struwwelpeter, illustrated collection of cautionary tales for young children, published in German as Lustige Geschichten und drollige Bilder mit fünfzehn schön kolorierten Tafeln für Kinder von 3–6 Jahren (1845; “Cheerful Stories and Funny Pictures with 15 Beautiful Colour Plates for Children from Ages 3 to 6”). Its author, Heinrich Hoffmann, was a physician and writer who used the pseudonym Reimerich Kinderlieb. The name Struwwelpeter (one of the characters in the book) was not part of the original title; it was added for the third German edition of the book.
The stories feature such characters as the title character, a boy whose untamed appearance is matched by his naughty behaviour; a child who plays with matches and is burned to ashes; and a tailor who cuts off the thumbs of children who suck them. The tales in the collection are by some lights amusing and harmless and by others excessively gruesome and frightening.