Angela Sommer-Bodenburg

Who is Angela Sommer-Bodenburg?

Angela Sommer-Bodenburg is the author of a number of fantasy books for children. Her most famous contribution to the field of children's fantasy is "The Little Vampire" series which has sold over 10 million copies and has been translated into over 30 languages. Sommer-Bodenburg states that her "vampire is not a bloodthirsty monster, however, but an affectionate little vampire with fears and foibles who will perhaps help free children of their own fears." The novel, written in 1979, spawned a series of books, and the plot has been adapted to theatre, radio, cinema, and television. A Canadian-German TV series was released in 1986 and a film version, directed by Uli Edel was released in 2000.

Angela Sommer-Bodenburg studied education, philosophy, and sociology at the University of Hamburg. She was assistant master at intermediate and secondary school in Hamburg, Germany from 1972 to 1984 and wrote the first chapter of "The Little Vampire" as an experiment to get to see what types of literature could hold the interest of her students. In 1984, she retired from teaching and dedicated herself to painting and writing. She has written more than forty books both for children and adults, from poetry to novels. She calls the success of the "Little Vampire" series a "mixed blessing" to her career as an author stating on her website: "I was pigeon-holed as the author of children's books and, within this pigeon-hole, I was further classified as the author of vampire books."