15 minAudiobook5 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
A quiet bedroom, a small bridge, a neighbor’s chickens: nothing is safe when these two boys get an idea.
In Wilhelm Busch’s Max and Moritz: A Story of Seven Boyish Pranks, two boys turn ordinary life into a string of disasters. Widow Bolte’s chickens become their first targets. Tailor Böck’s quick temper gives them another opening. For Max and Moritz, someone else’s misery is the whole point of the game.
This illustrated verse story pairs brisk rhymes and expressive drawings with startling cruelty. A tampered bridge turns anger into danger; beetles hidden in Uncle Fritz’s bed turn rest into battle. As the tricks grow more threatening, the telling stays playful. The unsettling pleasure lies in that clash between comic energy and the harm these boys cause.
What you’ll discover
- Two partners in havoc Meet boys whose shared imagination finds opportunities for destruction in the most ordinary places.
- A bridge into trouble Watch Max and Moritz exploit Tailor Böck’s temper with a trap beneath his feet.
- An uncle under siege Enter Uncle Fritz’s bedroom, where hidden beetles turn a peaceful night into frantic struggle.
- Rhymes with sharp edges Feel the contrast between brisk, playful verse and tricks that cause real suffering.
- Foolishness on both sides Discover Busch’s sharp eye for childish cruelty and the adult weaknesses it exploits.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy rhyming tales, dark humour and mischief, and anyone curious about the German picture story that inspired generations of comic strips and cautionary children's verse.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Bread on strings starts the mischief
- A sawn bridge and a loaded pipe
- Beetles in bed and a trip to the bakery
- What the verse says and how it works
Who’s who
- MaxOne of two mischievous boys, quick with a fishing rod and a saw, who loves a trick more than any lesson.
- MoritzMax's partner in mischief, who carries the gunpowder and plans pranks with him against the grown-ups of the village.
- Widow BolteA kind widow who loves her three hens and rooster and wants a quiet life with a good dinner.
- Tailor BöckThe village tailor, who can mend anything and stays calm until someone calls him a goat.
- Mr. LämpelThe teacher and church organist, a good old man who enjoys his meerschaum pipe after a hard day.
- Uncle FritzAn uncle who likes polite company, a quiet bed and a peaceful night's sleep.
- SpitzWidow Bolte's loyal dog, who sees the boys at work and barks, but cannot make anyone listen.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 15 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 5 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear Max e Moritz: una storia di sette monellerie in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Max e Moritz: una storia di sette monellerie
by Wilhelm Busch · 1865
Two village boys tie bread to strings, saw a bridge and fill a pipe with powder, and the village pays the price.
Medium levelUnder 2 hours to read25 languages
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
Max and Moritz is a comic tale in rhyme by the German writer and artist Wilhelm Busch, first published in 1865. It is told in seven short chapters, and Busch calls each one a prank.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Bread on strings starts the mischief
The tale opens in a village yard. Widow Bolte keeps three hens and a proud rooster, and she values them for their eggs, their feathers and the occasional roast. Max and Moritz watch her flock and ask themselves what they could do with it.
The boys cut bread into four pieces, each about as thick as a finger, and tie one to each end of two crossed strings. They lay the trap in the widow's yard and wait. The rooster crows, the hens run up, and every bird swallows a piece. Then they try to fly away, and the strings tangle them over a branch of the apple tree. The scene is told quickly, and Widow Bolte comes out to find her whole flock lost.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Max e Moritz: una storia di sette monellerie
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is Max and Moritz about?
It is a comic verse tale about two boys who play seven pranks on their neighbours, including a widow, a tailor, a teacher, an uncle, a baker and a farmer. Each prank has its own victim and its own disaster.
Who wrote Max and Moritz and when?
Wilhelm Busch, a German poet and illustrator, wrote it and first published it in 1865. He told the tale in short rhyming chapters called pranks, and he drew the original pictures himself.
Is Max and Moritz a true story?
No, it is an invented tale. Busch built it from familiar village types, such as the widow, the tailor and the teacher, and exaggerated their troubles for comic effect in rhyme.
The author
Wilhelm Busch
1832–1908 · German humorist, poet and cartoonist
Wilhelm Busch (1832–1908) was a German poet, painter and cartoonist. He was born in Wiedensahl and died in Mechtshausen. He lived in Germany, including periods in Munich and Wiedensahl. He wrote and illustrated Max and Moritz, published in 1865, and produced other illustrated stories and poems.
More like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
