Who is Rotmütz?

The oldest line we have about him is the first one ever written down: „Lange, lange ist es her, da lebte im Eulenwald ein kleiner Zwerg mit einer roten Mütze.“ — long, long ago, in the owl wood, there lived a small gnome with a red cap.

Rotmütz is not a hero and would be puzzled to be called one. He is small, practical and friendly; he carries a woven Kiepe with allerhand wichtige Sachen — all manner of important things — and every animal in the Eulenwald knows his quiet step among moss, roots and fern. When something needs doing he does it, usually with whatever the basket happens to hold.

The series keeps his voice the way the forest keeps its paths: simple, practical, friendly and handmade rather than heroic or modern-cool. Nothing in the books hurries, and nothing in them is louder than it needs to be.

Four books follow him around one full year: arriving in spring, crossing the meadow in summer, sharing the full Kiepe in autumn, and keeping a light through the long winter night.