Susanne Stemmer · Founder & Creative Director

When the second Ilvie Little book came out, I knew I should probably do a reading at the next book fair. There was just one problem: every children’s book reading I watched made me think, I really don’t want to do this.

Then I saw an author reading with a musician beside him. Every few minutes, they stopped, sang a song and got the children involved. I turned to my friend Poli: “Ahhh. That’s it!” Her answer: “No, Susanne. We are not turning this into a musical.” Well.

I called my old friend Suli Puschban, a wonderful children’s songwriter.
Together, we turned the reading into a little musical performance — and at Leipzig Book Fair, we filled the children’s tent, with people waiting outside.

Not long after, Suli suggested Ilvie Little for the Kinderklangwolke in Linz. They said yes.

Suddenly, our little book reading had become a full-scale stage production. I had never written a stage play before. But I thought: Kids love these books. I know these characters. I can imagine how they would move, talk and behave on stage. So I’ll just try.

Somewhere along the way, the idea of a giant LED wall came up. The books are so visual — why not bring that world onto the stage too? So I rebuilt the book imagery for the screen, learned a bit of digital camera animation along the way, cast and rehearsed with the children — and somehow it all came together.

In September 2023, 3.500 people came to see the Ilvie Little Musical. A sponsor provided 1.000 Ilvie Little Superpower masks — and suddenly there were a thousand little heroes in the audience, singing and dancing with us.