Shock-Headed Peter

Shock-Headed Peter (in German, Der Struwwelpeter) is a children's book published in 1845 by the German physician Heinrich Hoffmann (1809–1894), who was born in Frankfurt am Main. Hoffmann wrote and illustrated it himself in response to what he saw as a shortage of good children's books. He had wanted to buy a picture book as a Christmas present for his three-year-old son and, unable to find one he liked, decided to make his own. He had no plans to publish it, but in January 1845, at a meeting of the Frankfurt literary club Tutti Frutti, a local publisher bought the manuscript, and the book appeared in the Frankfurt marketplace that autumn under the title Lustige Geschichten und drollige Bilder, aimed at children of three to six.

The book contains ten rhymed stories, each illustrated, mostly about children who fall into a different bad habit or misbehaviour: neglecting personal hygiene, cruelty to animals, playing with fire, thumb-sucking, mocking others, refusing food, fidgeting at the table, carelessness while walking, and recklessness in a storm. The punishments they receive are usually excessive and serve as moral warnings. The title comes from the first story, about a boy with unkempt hair and long nails, who became the book's most famous figure. Hoffmann later used the name Struwwelpeter in subsequent editions, and it became the standard title.

The book is regarded as one of the earliest children's books to combine pictures and text in a continuous sequence, which is why it is often cited as a forerunner of the comic strip. Its success was considerable, and it was translated into many languages, including English, French, Spanish and Japanese. It has also inspired parodies, stage and musical adaptations, films and songs. In the twentieth century it was often read as a work of black humour, and some scholars have seen in its stories a reflection of childhood psychological disorders. It is still remembered for the figure of the tailor with giant scissors and for the severity of its punishments.