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  • 2021-03-02 (xsd:date)
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  • Is 'Little Suck-a-Thumb' from a Real German Children's Book? (en)
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  • On March 1, 2021, TikTok comedy duo Calvin & Habs posted a new video. It featured a purported German children's story titled Little Suck-a-Thumb. The video began with one of the men saying: As Germans, we are naturally very funny. The other chimed in with: We're raised with hilarious children's stories like 'Little Suck-a-Thumb.' The pair acted out a story where a mother tells a child to not suck his thumb. She tells him if he continues to do so, a tall tailor will cut it off. The mother leaves the room. Next, the tall tailor arrives and cuts off the child's thumb. This is a tale from a real German children's book titled Der Struwwelpeter. It was first published in 1845 and featured 10 stories written and illustrated by Heinrich Hoffmann. It is available for reading on the Virginia Commonwealth University website. After the mother warns the boy, the great tall tailor arrives with his great sharp scissors: The book page was also reposted on Pinterest: In recent years, the strange tale has made its way into American popular culture. For example, there was this sequence from the cartoon TV series Family Guy. In the clip, the mother cuts off the child's thumbs: Dwight Schrute, a character on the American version of The Office, also brought up Little Suck-a-Thumb. The moment appeared during Season 2, Episode 18. The episode's title was Take Your Daughter to Work Day. Schrute's character changed the tale for the little girls present in the room: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry5ZrxTMJZM Dover Publications included a brief history of the book after it republished the tales in 1995: In sum, Little Suck-a-Thumb was indeed a story that appeared in a real German children's book. (en)
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