Antonia Michaelis » The children of Ammerlo « Illustrated by Julia Ginsbach 7+, January 2005 144 pages, 15.3 x 21.5 cm ISBN 978-3-7855-5343-5 hardcover 8,90 € (D) Rights sold: Polish, Lithuanian, Turkish

Ammerlo is small. Tiny, to be precise. But for Louisa, who practically seems to live on the branches of her favourite look-out, a cherry tree, Ammerlo has everything that makes life interesting - a towing bridge for dangerous crossings, a secret cave at the beach for meetings in, well, secret, an abandoned sailing boat - and friends to enjoy these things with. Once in a while, one or the other of the children in Ammerlo needs a dry set of clothes and a cup of hot chocolate after an involuntary bath in the sea.
Add to this cheery group of children a set of grown-ups who always seem to lag behind and a confused lanky student hopelessly in love with Louisa's sister Ann-Kathrin - and the charm of Ammerlo is almost complete.