Little Peter's Journey to the Moon

[1] It is the story of Little Peter and his sister Anneli, who help a May beetle named Mr. Zoomzeman (German: Herr Summsemann) to retrieve his missing sixth leg from the Moon.

The current Mr. Zoomzeman can break the curse and recover his missing leg if he finds two children who are pure of heart and have never been cruel to animals.

These include the thunder man (Donnermann), the wind bride (Windliesel), the cloud woman (Wolkenfrau), the lightning witch (Blitzhexe), Rainy Fritz (Regenfritz), the gale giant (Sturmriese), Hail Hans (Hagelhans), Mother Hulda (Frau Holle), Ice Max (Eismax), the vodyanoy (Wassermann), Mary-of-the-dew (Taumariechen), morning glory (Morgenröte), the afterglow (Abendröte), the morning star (Morgenstern) and the evening star (Abendstern) and the Queen of the Day (die Sonne).

Peter, Anneli and Mr. Zoomzeman are carried by the bear to the Moon cannon, via a meadow where gifts and sweets are grown for Christmas and past the nest where a hen lays colourful Easter eggs.

The cannon fires the adventurers up onto a hill where the lost sixth leg is nailed to a sacred birch tree.

In the fight to prevent the children from being eaten the celestial spirits attack the Man in the Moon and Peter battles with his wooden toy sword.

In 2010 a biography of Otto Klemperer by Eva Weissweiler published in Germany stated that Peter and Anneli were based on the children of Oskar Kohnstamm, in whose sanatorium von Bassewitz had been a patient.