When I was but a little child, my mother read this book to me. She also read other books, but mostly, I insisted we return to this. Later I was so annoyed I had to wait until the evening to have another chapter read to me, that I taught myself to read, in order to be able to read it myself. I had read both Jim Button books front to back before I even entered school.
My life changed, my tastes changed, but Jim Button always stayed with me. I was a child, I read Jim Button. I was a pubescent teenager, I read Jim Button. I was a partying student, I read Jim Button. I'm writing a PhD thesis, and I'm reading Jim Button.
I have read many hundred books in my life. I have read pulp fantasy and nobel prize literature. Some books I reread two or three times, but nothing comes close to the Jim Button books that I read so often I cannot even remember. I know absolutely everything that happens in these books, I can quote entire passages by heart, but each time I read it, I enjoy it as much as I did when I was a child.
But why are these books so great? First, there is the outer side of it. These books have everything that a boy - and a man who has not forgotten his inner child - loves. There are dragons and pirates and steam engines. Kings and princesses, giants and half dragons! Steam engines that have their own mind and can get children. Steam engines that can swim. Steam engines that can fly. And steam engines that dress up as dragons! I mean, seriously, it cannot get any better than that. And all the while it is not a silly fantasy book where steam engines can fly "because they can", no there is a logical explanation for everything. For a child, these books are just plain fun. I remember how I hated it, when a children's book tried to shove a message down my throat. Today I notice that these books, while being charmingly politically incorrect (publisher's possibly wouldn't dare publish it these days), these books teach more about friendship, tolerance and bravery than all of today's politically correct and educationally valuable children's books.
But apart from the content being great, the book is also written extremely well. It takes children seriously. I remember well, how some children's book authors obviously think children were dumb. Not so Michael Ende. The language (at least in the German version) is extremely good, and of better quality than many "serious" books I have read. Michael Ende does not shy away from using advanced words, but works in little explanations for the children. Every character in the book has his or her unique way of speaking and you recognize everyone's style immediately. Additionally, the books are well thought out from start to finish. Michael Ende in this children's book achieves what many "adult" fantasy author's never manage: There is a plot that arches both books in the series. Additionally each book has its own subplot. Each chapter has its own subplot again. And everything fits together intricately and is wrapped up nicely. Of all the books I have read very few are so perfectly crafted regarding both plot and language.
With all that said, I want to add a large thank you to Michael Ende for enkindling my love for books. And if you have children, I urge you to read Jim Button to them. I guarantee that they will love it.
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Top reviews from other countries
Manuel Schiller
Very good book, and a good translation into English.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 10, 2017