Trapp Family Book has 25th Publisher's Weekly anniversary

Twenty-five years ago, the release of The Trapp Family Book – written and illustrated by Hans Wilhelm – was celebrated at the famous Trapp Family Lodge in Vermont. Maria von Trapp as well as some of her children and grandchildren were part of the celebration.

“The Trapp Family Book was one of my first children’s books,” says Wilhelm. “I have always been an admirer of the original story of this remarkable family – which is much richer and more interesting than the Sound of Music version. Maria von Trapp had written several books on her own.

These autobiographies describe her childhood days as an unruly novice in a convent, her meeting with the Baron von Trapp and his seven children, her singing lessons for the family and their escape from Austria after the Nazi takeover. My book is especially for younger readers. It retells the story with humorous pictures, covering the family history up to their settlement in Vermont.”

Wilhelm’s book also includes a powerful part of their story that most people are not aware of: In spite of the many adversities this family had to face here in America they did not forget their homeland. The Austrian people were starving after the Second World War. On their singing tour, the Trapp family asked their audiences to donate tins of food. As they traveled from town to town in their big blue bus, all the family members packed these gifts and dropped these packages at the next post office. Over the years they sent thousands of these “care- parcels” back to Austria.

“It took me two years to complete this book,” Wilhelm continued. “I went to Austria and visited the original home of the family, the convent and many other places that I have illustrated for the book. A Japanese television station made the book into an animated family series of 42 shows soon after it came out. The original watercolor drawings for the book were later shown at the Peace Museum in Tokyo, and are now in the collection of the Trapp Family Lodge in Vermont.”

Shortly after the release, The Trapp Family Book was honored as the “Book of the Year” by the “Eltern” magazine. Today the English version of The Trapp Family Book is exclusively available from the Trapp Family Lodge’s gift shop.