For children’s book author Ursel Scheffler, the war in Ukraine has awakened bad memories of her youth. Today she calls on people not to take away young people’s hope and imagination.
Children’s book author Ursel Scheffler (86, “Inspector Kugelblitz”) experienced flashbacks when the Ukraine war began in February 2022. “Suddenly I was the child sitting in the air raid shelter. I heard the planes, had the dust and the smell of burning in my nose again,” Scheffler told the German Press Agency in her hometown of Hamburg. At the age of six in 1944, she had experienced how her hometown of Nuremberg was destroyed by Allied bombers.
Leave a way for the imagination
Today, the mother of three and grandmother of three, who has sold millions of books and audio books, is arguing that young people should not be burdened with stories about war events. “In the spring, I met a Ukrainian author at the Leipzig Book Fair. She told me everything she writes – about the war and the many injured,” Scheffler told the dpa. “I said to her, please let children have their childhood – it goes by so quickly. And don’t tell them about their suffering. Instead, give them an outlet for their minds and their imagination.”
For several years now, Scheffler has been committed to promoting reading. She is a reading ambassador for the “Stiftung Lesen” (Mainz) and initiated the “Büchertürme” program in 2011. In 2018, the author received the prestigious Biermann-Ratjen Medal from the Hanseatic City of Hamburg for her services.
Book bridges, book towers and reading towers
Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
