Page 5 - AIT0524_Kinderbuchautorin

SERIEN PERSPEKTIVWECHSEL • CHANGE OF PERSPECTIVE

M rs. Roeder, you have been a successful children’s book author since 2009.
You have created characters and stories – among them are the Krumpflinge
and Rosa Räuberprinzessin. Originally, you studied architecture. How did this career
change come about?
Planning for others is something that comes quickly and naturally to me. But when it
comes to my own life, is a completely different story. I let myself drift and wait to see
where chance takes me. A picture book that I had painted for my children just for fun
was published by the Prestel Junior publishing company. When I first walked into the
publishing house, I immediately knew that I wanted to seize this opportunity. I had never
felt as comfortable in any architectural office.

r What is it that writing offers you that architecture – or rather the day-to-day work of
an architect – could not?
At the age of five, my son said: “Mum, I want to be like you. You’re not a boss and you
don’t have a boss.” There is no better way to describe how much freedom I enjoy in my
everyday life as an author. I also have the freedom to immerse myself intensively in a wide
variety of topics and places of my choice: from donkey trekking in the Black Forest, to the
El Drach cave in Mallorca, to the Book of Kells at Trinity College in Dublin ...

r Can you nonetheless identify any commonalities between the construction site of a
100 Jahre alt, voller Geschichte: Annette Roeders Wohnhaus bei München • Annette Roeder’s home near Munich book and the construction site of architecture?
In my mind, I move through my stories like through imaginary spaces. To construct these,
I need a floor plan. Where is the entrance, how do I get out again? Many novels have
multiple plot lines that need to be connected at meaningful points. And in the end,
everything has to fit into a rectangular book! Studying architecture is not the most obvious
but an excellent school for writers.

r Apparently, you can’t quite let go of architecture after all. 25 moderne Bauwerke aus
aller Welt (25 Modern Buildings from Around the World) was published in 2022, and
13 Bauwerke, die du kennen solltest: Kunst für Kids (13 Buildings You Should Know:
Art for Kids) was already published in 2008. In your opinion, how important is it for
children to learn at an early age what their built environment is all about and what
good architecture can achieve?
Why is the bus shelter in the Bregenz Forest better than the one in the Allgäu region? Why
is the shellac-polished Biedermeier chest of drawers more beautiful than the veneered
sideboard from the furniture store? Recognising quality requires intuitive knowledge.
Children learn this much more easily than adults, just like languages. Art and architectural
history urgently need to be included in the curriculum, the earlier the better!

r The source of inspiration for your architecture books for children is obvious. But
how did you come up with such bizarre characters as the “Krumpflinge”?
Schreibtisch der Autorin, Terminkalender der Lesungen • The author’s desk, calender of readings Our everyday lives are full of stories. I discovered the Krumpflinge in my cellar while I was
clearing out. Someone had stashed a packet of pasta in my son Anton’s musty ski boots
Spitzweg-Interpretation mit Laptop: „Die arme Poetin“ • Spitzweg interpretation with laptop: “The Poor Poetess” size 48. Only very strange creatures would do something like that, wouldn’t they? Which
also explains where the socks we put in the washing machine disappear to!

r What is your work as an author like? How and where do you put down on paper or
in the computer what comes to your mind?
The great thing about writing is that you can do it anywhere – in a café, on the beach, in
a hammock. All I need is a pen and a notebook. Once the story is “sorted by hand”, the
laptop comes into play. Unfortunately, I am the personification of procrastination! So the
reality looks something like this: I spend the last six weeks before the absolute deadline for
manuscript submission in my pyjamas, moving back and forth between my bed and the
sofa. Laptop on my stomach, hot water bottle on my neck. In between, the dog demands
his walks. Luckily, the neighbours don’t take offence at my pyjama bottoms!
r Last but not least, what were your favourite children’s books when you were little?
Which heroes, heroines or role models did you grow up with?
I was a lucky child who was read to every day. That’s why there are so many wonderful
literary characters that have left their mark on me! Beppo Roadsweeper from Momo helps
with his advice: “You must only concentrate on the next step!” I always wanted to be as
Fotos: privat loyal, humorous and independent as Rat, one of the main characters in The Wind in the
Willows. But the great love of my life is the anarchic Pumuckl!

044 • AIT 5.2024