Dot and Anton

''Matches, buy my matches, ladies and gents!'' calls Luise Pogge, a.k.a. ''Dot'', evening after evening, standing on Weidendammer Bridge in the middle of Berlin. Of course, her wealthy parents have no idea of her whereabouts, believing her to be in the safe care of her nanny, Miss Andacht. But Miss Andacht is being blackmailed by her shady fiancé, which is where Dot comes in. Anton, on the other hand, has to beg because he and his mother are paupers, and desperate. When the two children make friends on the streets of Berlin, Dot, who is no fool, has a brilliant idea which is sure to solve both their problems, and in the process they even solve a dastardly crime...

'Witty yet mysterious' Guardian

'Erich Kästner has a way of being very funny while also make a serious point' Irish Times

Dot loves play-acting, dressing up her pet dachshund Piefke and inventing words like 'splentastic'. Her best friend is Anton, who lives in a tiny flat and looks after his mother.

They share a secret - every night, when their parents think they are asleep, they sell matches and shoelaces on the streets of Berlin with Dot's grumpy governess. But why?

The answers involve a villain called 'Robert the Devil', a club-wielding maid, a wobbly tooth, a pair of silver shoes and a policeman dancing the tango, as Dot and Anton get into all sorts of scrapes in this delightful, touching and hilarious adventure story.

Part of the new Pushkin Children's Classics series of thrilling, magical and inspiring stories from around the world, which young readers will return to time and again.

Translated by Antthea Bell.

Erich Kästner, writer, poet and journalist, was born in Dresden in 1899. His first children's book, Emil and the Detectives, was published in 1929 and has since sold millions of copies around the world and been translated into more than 60 languages. After the Nazis took power in Germany, Kästner's books were burnt and he was excluded from the writers' guild. He won many awards, including the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1960. He died in 1974.

Walter Trier was born in Prague in 1880. After moving to Berlin, he became an acclaimed cartoonist and illustrator, and Kästner's collaborator on more than a dozen children's books. Forced to emigrate under Nazi rule, he died in 1951 in Ontario, Canada.

Anthea Bell was born in Suffolk in 1936. An illustrious, award-winning translator, she was best known for her translations of the much-loved Asterix books and the work of Zweig and Sebald. She died in 2018.

• | Author: Erich Kastner, Anthea ) Bell, Walter Trier
• | Publisher: Pushkin Press
• | Publication Date: Oct 23, 2025
• | Number of Pages:
• | Language: eng
• | Binding: Paperback / softback
• | ISBN-13: 9781782694649
• | ISBN-10: 1782694641