Thøger Birkeland made his debut in 1958 with his
children’s novel Drengene fra Stenborgen (The Boys from Stone Castle). His second children’s novel, Når hanen galer (When the Cock Crows), which was originally
submitted to a publishing house competition but failed to win, was published in 1961. The manuscript nevertheless got published. It was a successful gamble, as the following year this very book won Thøger Birkeland The Ministry of
Culture’s Children’s Book Prize. Showing the children solidarity – and especially the weaker ones – is – and has been – Thøger Birkeland’s most distinctive ”trademark” , and something that characterizes all of his books!
His principal inspiration has come from being together
with children in school. For example, he lets Dennis, one of the characters in ”Ghost Cliff”, steal a
fully-loaded beer lorry so that his mates can quench their thirsts. The story has its roots in reality, and was told him by a member of staff at Kofoed’s School in Copenhagen. Andy in ”the Lulli Books” is another example of how
Thøger Birkeland gathers material to form a character.
Thøger Birkeland always tries to give an optimistic ending to his books. He also tries to give his characters at least a glimpse of hope in his more serious books.
The books about the Krumborg family, alias the
Crumbgolds, are central in his production. The first in the series, entitled Krummerne (The Crumbgolds), was published in 1969 and has since been re-printed four times reaching a total publication of 115,000 copies!
The book is about a very lively family consisting of father, mother, and three children. Father Krumborg is a teacher, mother Krumborg is an infant teacher, big sister Stine and Mads, who is called Krumm, go to school, and baby brother ”Grunk” – the only sound he can utter – is really called Bertel. It would be reasonable to think that Thøger Birkeland has got a lot of inspiration from his
own family!!
All of the main characters in Thøger Birkeland’s novels, including Mads Krumborg, are in fact ”anti-heroes” and not tough guys who just take care of everything with no
problem; but they manage even so. Another characteristic in Thøger Birkelands writing is the humour, which plays a central role in all his books. The humour is a way of surviving and it runs through his authorship in a nice way.
The ”Krumm books” have a total publication of 250,000 copies!
Thøger Birkeland has also written crime stories. Among
these is ”Ghost Cliff” (1984) in which a couple of teenagers named Rie and Gorm get unintentionally in the way of a band of smugglers, and V som Viktor
(V for Victor 1986), where we once again meet Detective Inspector Steen Bertelsen and his squad from ”Ghost Cliff” in a case that this time ends in kidnapping. A number of Thøger Birkeland’s books belong to the crime genre. Saftevandsmordet (The Lemonade Murder 1968) is a particularly elegantly compiled story about three brothers and sisters playing with the idea of doing away with their awful cousin.
Thøger Birkeland has not written lengthy novels in
recent years, but he has written a number of short easy-readers with exciting stories for the youngest readers who are well into reading. It is, however, characteristic of him that all his stories are always about significant problems children can relate to. Nothing is hidden from view, but the stories are at the same time positive and show
solidarity, with a built-in hope that it ought to be possible to change something for the better. This has through all the years precisely been the special hallmark of Thøger Birkeland’s extensive and impressive production of
about 80 works.
(2002)
