Reinhardt Jung

A framed narrative featuring Bambert, a lonely invalid, who survives by writing stories. For the last chapter of his Book of Wishes, he wants a true story, which means a story that has gone out in the world and been re-written by real people. So he uses balloons to set his stories free and waits for them to return, one by one, from the world. And they do -- from Ireland, Russia, Spain, Poland, France, Germany, Bosnia, England, and Italy -- and we get to read them. However, the truth is that Mr. Bloom who lives downstairs and takes care of Bambert has been using his stamp collection to make it seem that the stories have come back from all over the world. In the end Bambert dies by falling out of the window while trying to recover his 11th balloon. Mr. Bloom writes the last story in which Bambert is reunited with his beloved characters.

See this Booktrusted (UK) webpage on ideas for using this book in classrooms:
http://www.booktrusted.co.uk/education/education_doc_full.php4?itemid=7&sect...… (meer)