Arne Rautenberg, Rotraut Susanne Berner: Thirty-Eight Quails Come to Stay the Night — 40th Freiburg Literature Discussion: Wild Friday (ages 6 and up)

Welcome: Birgit Güde, Junges Literaturhaus Freiburg

With wit and exuberance, poet Arne Rautenberg plays with words, sound, and rhythm, transforming the familiar and conjuring up new worlds. There’s nothing you won’t find here! From wacky giant dinosaurs in “dinosaur cinemas” to a rabbit and a little bee working together on a little machine to make chocolates. With his “rhyme fishing rod,” Rautenberg always reels in new surprises: the polar bear from the Arctic Ocean, for example, and—wow—a cow with a tattoo!
“Thirty-Eight Quails Come to Stay the Night” (Peter Hammer, 2026) brings together 123 poems for children and the young at heart of all ages. The magnificent illustrator, “hidden object book” artist, and creator of Karlchen, Rotraut Susanne Berner, tips her top hat to the art of poetry: she has populated this new classic of children’s poetry with a flock of enchanting quails.
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Photos: Arne Rautenberg, Birgit Rautenberg; Rotraut Susanne Berner (private)

Sponsors: Freiburg City Cultural Office, Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research, and the Arts, Sparkasse Freiburg-Nördlicher Breisgau, Guzzoni-Federer Foundation, Deutsche Pfandbriefbank
Cooperation partners: Theater in the Marienbad, jos fritz bookstore
Cultural partner: SWR Kultur

Date: November 6, 2026, 3:00–4:00 p.m.
Location: Literaturhaus Freiburg, Bertoldstraße 17
Admission: 7/5 euros

Literary Discussion
Literaturhaus