As Grimm stories become more gruesome (Grimmer Grimms, 13 November) parents might like to turn to his contemporary Johann Peter Hebel. None of the stories in Hebel’s Treasure Chest (Penguin Classic)is unsuitable for children, and some are probably best appreciated by them. Like the Grimms, Hebel, who also collected his stories from popular sources, was admired by Goethe – and by Tolstoy, Kafka and Ludwig Wittgenstein. Hebel’s stories often imply or express a moral, but are less specifically Christian than the Grimms.
Nicholas Jacobs
London
• The deification of Alan Johnson in your pages continues apace (Letters, 13 November). I suppose the poverty-to-parliament story is irresistible to some, but I find the transition from trade unionist to ultra-smooth Blairite deeply questionable. Enough already.
Tom McFadyen
Glasgow
• It is incorrect to say that only the residents of Manchester, rather than the other areas of Greater Manchester, were consulted about the election of a mayor (Letters, 12 November). We in Salford now bitterly regret we had that opportunity, which resulted in not just an elected mayor but a deputy and 13 assistant mayors, now cut to a mere 10. The rest of Greater Manchester should not follow our example but learn from it.
Terence Hall
Salford, Greater Manchester
• Now that the longest-running radio serial is emulating its TV counterparts, why not go for broke (Letters, 13 November)? It happened to Bobby Ewing, Dirty Den. and Nick Cotton. Surely it is time for Phil Archer to be brought back from the dead to sort out the projected move from Brookfield.
Edward Thomas
Eastbourne
• Seen on a T-shirt in Broken Hill, New South Wales (Letters, 12 November): “My anger management course pisses me off.”
Nikki Knewstub
Liskeard, Cornwall
• If no one was bribed to let Qatar have the World Cup (Sport, 13 November), Fifa are more stupid than we thought.
Richard Head
Melksham, Wiltshire
