People have always been inspired by Berlin. The rich history, beautiful sights and fun activities motivated many people to write about the city (including myself). We have already published an article with the best books about Berlin written by insiders and there are also many great movies which take place in Berlin. In this article we going to focus on children books about Berlin.
What makes a children book great?
Creating books for kids is a speciality on its own. First of all great children books need to have nice drawings or images. Especially smaller children cannot read yet and images are easy to digest for older children too. Secondly, it’s great when books for children are interactive: Let the children search for something, ask them questions or make them solve riddles. Besides all that it’s important that the topic is interesting: Below you can find five great books which are going to be a lot of fun for any kid who lives in Berlin or likes the city.
1. Marcella Tigert durch Berlin
Our favourite children book about Berlin is called Marcella Tigert durch Berlin. It’s about a little girl who visits inspiring places like the Zoo, the Brandenburger Tor, the KaDeWe and the U-Bahn. The book is mainly awesome because of its large and colourful drawings. They are spread out over two full pages and there is a lot to discover.
A story with interactive aspects
Besides just telling a story the book about Marcella also has an interactive part. In the large drawings kids can find certain elements over and over again so you can search for them together. Our son also loves it when we tell a story about all the things which are happening in the drawings. From animas in the U-Bahn to a monkey sitting on the neck of a giraffe, our son loves all the little details in this book.
Title: Marcella tigert durch Berlin
Creators: A. Funck & P. Loersch
Language: German
Amount of Pages: 40
Price: 15,90€
Link to buy: Amazon
2. Nelly und die Berlinchen
The books “Nelly und die Berlinchen” describe the adventures of Nelly, Hannah and Amina. As you might expect the books take place in Berlin and are written like a story (more than the other books in this list). When you read the books of Nelly, you clearly recognise that the creators focus on the multi-cultural aspect of Berlin. Anyone can be a hero in these books and that makes them fun to read.
Three different books
In 2016 the first book of Nelly und die Berlinchen won a price which focuses on democracy and mutual respect. More than 15.000 books have been sold of that book with the title Rettung auf dem Spieplatz. In 2019 the second book was published and the third book is only a few months old:
- Rettung auf dem Spieplatz (2016)
- Schatzsuche (2019)
- Die perfekte Geburtstagsparty (2022)
You can read a bit more about the books here. Our son is a big fan of the books so they are definitely a good investment if your looking for a children book about Berlin.
Title: Nelly und die Berlinchen
Creators: Karin Beese & Mathilde Rousseau
Language: German
Amount of Pages: 32
Publication Date: 2016, 2019, 2022
Price: 10€
Link to buy: Amazon
3. Unser Berlin
The book “Unser Berlin” is fun for kids but also very informative for adults. A Berliner bear called Berlo takes you on a tour to Berlin and explains things about the city and its history. The facts about Berlin are actually super interesting: Did you know Berlin still has more than 2000 hand-operated water pumps? Or did you know that the Zoo at Zoologischer Garten owns 20.000 different animals?
Inspiration for activities in Berlin
This children book is most fun for Children between 5 and 8 years old. Very young children might enjoy the images but for them the other books about Berlin are more fun. It’s great that this book can be a real inspiration when it comes to activities in Berlin with kids.
Title: Unser Berlin
Creators: Dagmar Fischer & Katrin Merle
Language: German
Amount of Pages: 32
Publication Date: 31.05.21
Price: 16€
Link to buy: Amazon
4. Berlin Wimmelbuch – Ausbruch aus dem Zoo
Children love to search for things in books. The German word for books with things you have to search for is Wimmelbuch. In English a Wimmelbuch can be best translated as “hidden pictures book”. Children just love to search for these hidden things. Obviously Berlin has to have a Wimmelbuch and the one from Judith Brews focuses on the Zoo.
Search for animals, objects and people
The goal of the Wimmelbuch is to find certain things on the pages of the book. The great thing is, that there is not much text in this book so although it’s a German book every kid can read it. The book was published in 2010 already and is most fun for children between 3-6 years old.
Title: Wimmelbuch Berlin
Creators: Judith Drews
Language: German (not much text)
Amount of Pages: 12
Publication Date: 29.11.2010
Price: 12,95€
Link to buy: Amazon
Got excited about Berlin and looking for some children activities? Our favourites are Legoland, Naturkundemuseum and the Aquarium.
