A boy’s village childhood with all the traditional attributes – father, mother, brother, sister, a house on a lake, tree-climbing, going to the races, music lessons, a bicycle, a crush on a girl in the class – is bedevilled by the mystifying appearances of the eccentric Mr Sommer. Moving through the landscape in silent haste, like a man possessed, with his empty rucksack and his long, odd-looking walking stick, Mr Sommer runs like a black thread through the boy’s days. Sempe’s light, caricatural illustrations perfectly capture both the humour and the gravity of Süskind’s tale.