As a child in Germany, November was always one of my favorite months because of Saint Martin’s Day. Every year, my mom would make lanterns with my sister and me. Then we all went to the Saint Martin’s parade (St. Martinszug) and watch or listen to the story about Martin.
Now, I live in the United States. Unfortunately, the tradition of Saint Martin is not very well-known here. To expose my two children and other kids to this German or rather European tradition, I started a local Saint Martin’s parade at my children’s YMCA daycare center two years ago. Each year, all children at the daycare center make lanterns. Then, we have one day when all parents come in at 5PM. The lights in the entire YMCA are switched off and the children walk with their lanterns from the daycare center through the YMCA into a big room in the back of the building. They sit down on a rug and listen to me telling the story of Martin and the Red Cloak and showing images on a big screen. Afterwards, each child gets a sweet Martinsbrezel from a real German bakery in Philadelphia.
When I first did that event, I was looking for an English version of the story of Saint Martin. But there seemed to be nothing. Not a single book about Saint Martin for children that was written in English. Also, I struggled to find a Saint Martin’s book that was telling the legend in a child-appropriate, coherent storyline.
So I decided to write a German-English bilingual book myself
Since we cannot hold a Saint Martin’s Day parade this year due to the pandemic, the children can at least read the story about Martin’s good deed in both German and English.
Below you can read the abstracts in both English and German of …
Martin and the red cloak/ Martin und der rote Mantel
How would you treat a beggar you saw shivering outside in the middle of winter? Would you ignore him? Or would you give up your most treasured possession to help? Martin and the Red Cloak retells the legend of Saint Martin—a story that helps children understand the power of showing kindness to others.
Join Martin on his journey and learn about his good deed, which is celebrated all over Europe each November.
Martin and the Red Cloak is provided in both English and German, and features playful action words that encourage young readers to interact with the story.
Wie würdest Du einen Bettler behandeln, den du mitten im Winter vor Kälte zitternd im Schnee sitzen siehst? Würdest du ihn ignorieren? Oder würdest du ihm das Wertvollste geben, das du besitzt? Martin und der Rote Mantel erzählt die Geschichte von Sankt Martin—eine Geschichte, die Kindern vermittelt, wie wichtig es ist, mit anderen zu teilen und Güte zu zeigen.
Begleite Martin auf seiner Reise und lerne alles über seine gute Tat, die jedes Jahr im November mit Martinszügen in ganz Europa gefeiert wird.
Die bilinguale Fassung von Martin und der Rote Mantel bringt Kindern auf Deutsch und Englisch die bekannte Legende in einfacher Sprache nahe.
3 comments
Wo kann ich das Buch kaufen?
Bei Amazon. Einfach auf einen der Links hier im Post klicken. Die führen zu amazon.com. Alternativ kann man es auch bei amazon.de bestellen. LG Veronika
I would like an audio version of this story, and read both in English and then German (for each page).