The Golden Hamster Saga is a children's

book series A book series is a sequence of books having certain characteristics in common that are formally identified together as a group. Book series can be organized in different ways, such as written by the same author, or marketed as a group by their pub ...

written by

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

Dietlof Reiche Dietlof Reiche (born 1941) is a German author of children's books and books for young adults. He was born in Dresden and grew up in the village of Nördlingen. He studied engineering at university and was a teacher at Darmstadt Technical University ...

, and translated by

John Brownjohn John Maxwell Brownjohn (11 April 1929 – 6 January 2020) was a British literary translator. Career John Brownjohn translated more than 160 books, and won the Schlegel-Tieck Prize for German translation three times and the Helen and Kurt Wolf ...

. It was illustrated by Joe Cepeda. The series revolves around a

golden hamster The golden hamster or Syrian hamster (''Mesocricetus auratus'') is a rodent belonging to the hamster subfamily, Cricetinae. Their natural geographical range is in an arid region of northern Syria and southern Turkey. Their numbers have been d ...

named Freddy Auratus, two silly

guinea pig The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig (''Cavia porcellus''), also known as the cavy or domestic cavy (), is a species of rodent belonging to the genus ''Cavia'' in the family Caviidae. Breeders tend to use the word ''cavy'' to describe the ani ...

s named Enrico and Caruso, a black, civilized

tomcat Tomcat may refer to: Animals * A sexually mature male cat * Paederus, known as in Indonesia Science and technology * Apache Tomcat, an implementation of Java web-server technologies * Beretta 3032 Tomcat, a pistol * Grumman F-14 Tomcat, a f ...

named Sir William, and Freddy's owner, Mr. John, who translates German to English. All mammals (except humans) in this series communicate in Interanimal, a

telepathic Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic ...

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...

. The only animal that can read and write is Freddy. He goes on adventures with his friends Sir William, Enrico, Caruso, and Tjark.

Characters

* Freddy Auratus is a smart, golden hamster that can read and write, but only with a keyboard. He can talk in Interanimal, and other pets often ask him to type something to Mr. John for them. * Enrico and Caruso, Enrico is a smaller guinea pig, while Caruso is a larger one, often taunt Freddy by saying guinea pigs are superior to golden hamsters. They enjoy singing songs, writing plays, and making animals laugh. They are named after the famous opera singer,

Enrico Caruso Enrico Caruso (, , ; 25 February 1873 – 2 August 1921) was an Italian operatic first lyrical tenor then dramatic tenor. He sang to great acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe and the Americas, appearing in a wide variety of roles (74) ...

. * Sir William is a 'respectable' tom cat that says he will not kill an animal for food. He also always makes laws for the other pets to obey and is loyal to Mr. John. However, later in the series, Sir William catches mice. * Mr. John, a human who takes care of all the pets, can understand Freddy by the words the hamster types on his computer. * Tjark, first appearing in the fifth book, is a robotic hamster that was built by Goldoni, an Italian scientist. He is friends with Enrico, Caruso, and Sir William. * Sophie, a young girl, was Freddy's original owner.

Titles

The five books in the series are: * ''I, Freddy'' follows Freddy going to a new home. * ''Freddy in Peril'' - Freddy is stalked by an evil scientist. * ''Freddy to the Rescue'' - Freddy saves some field hamsters. * ''The Haunting of Freddy'' - Freddy is haunted by a ghost during his vacation at a castle. * ''Freddy's Final Quest'' - Freddy must fight off Crusaders from the past to return to his own time

Reception

Publishers Weekly called the first novel in the series "worth putting down on paper". Moreover, they write that "Brownjohn's nglishtranslation reads smoothly and captures the considerable wit of the narrative. Spare yet comical, Cepeda's line art reveals endearing views of Freddy and some inventive shots of his surroundings." The Australian Broadcasting Corporation review of the first book, described it as strong: "The empowering nature of literacy has been captured perfectly in this remarkable little autobiography of golden hamster, Freddy Auratus."

References

{{Reflist Series of children's books German children's literature Children's novels about animals Fictional hamsters Fictional writers Beltz & Gelberg books