Margit Auer

Margit Auer (born 23 February 1967) is a German author.

Her children's novels have sold a total of 8 million copies and have been translated into 26 languages.

Margit Auer gained popularity through her book series Die Schule der magischen Tiere (The School of Magical Animals).

After attending the Ruperti-Gymnasium grammar school in Mühldorf, she went to university in Eichstätt, where she graduated with a degree in journalism in 1992.

Auer then worked as an editor and reporter for various daily newspapers in Germany.

In 1997, she opened her own editorial office.

She has written for Süddeutsche Zeitung and Deutsche Presse-Agentur, among others.

After her children were born, Auer began to write children's books.

Her first book, Verschwörung am Limes (Conspiracy on the Limes), a historical children's mystery, was published in 2010.

It was followed by two sequels.

The first book of this continuing series was published in 2013.

Auer grew up in Waldkraiburg, a town close to Munich in Bavaria, together with two older brothers.

In 2013, she published the first two books in her Die Schule der magischen Tiere series – Die Schule der magischen Tiere and Die Schule der magischen Tiere: Voller Löcher! – the first of which quickly made it onto the Spiegel magazine's bestseller list for children's books.

The sequels also climbed to the top of the bestseller lists.

In total, the series has sold over 7 million copies.

In March 2019, Auer was awarded the Heidelberger Leander 2019 children's book prize.

From 2019 to 2023 she has been a weekly columnist for the Süddeutsche Zeitung's "Familientrio" where she answered questions on parenting.

Margit Auer is married to the journalist and author of crime fiction Richard Auer.

The couple lives in Bavaria and has three sons.

13 books have been published in the regular series of Die Schule der magischen Tiere as well as eight spin-offs, the holiday series Die Schule der magischen Tiere – Endlich Ferien, and one special edition.

In 2020, Auer published several books for early readers featuring the polar bear Murphy as a detective.

All three series are ongoing.

Her books have been translated into more than 20 languages and have been published in the following countries: Albania, China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, The Netherlands, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey, and Ukraine.

The series takes place at Winterstein School in an unnamed town in Germany.

What makes Winterstein School special is the presence of magic animals who can speak and become a child's best friend.

The animals (including a fox, a turtle, a penguin, and a red river hog) are given to the children by Mister Mortimer Morrison, the owner of a magical pet shop.

He comes from Scotland, as does his sister, Mary Cornfield.

Very few people know the secret of the magic animals: Mister Morrison, the teacher Miss Cornfield, and her class of twelve girls and twelve boys.

Everyone else sees the animals as cuddly toys or they only see the animals’ shadows.

In every book of the regular series, one to three children receive an animal.

Each animal becomes the companion of one of the children, helping him or her handle various problems or challenges.

The spin-off series focusses on holiday adventures.

All the books are set during the same week of the holidays, but each one is told from a different perspective.

The magical animals become a child's best friend.

They can understand human language and speak with one another.

The child can speak with the magical animal as well – as long as the animal belongs to him or her.

Magical animals can transform themselves.

Whenever people are around who are not part of the magic circle, the animals turn into cuddly toys.

Before an animal is given to a child, that child receives a message.

Every time a child receives an animal, the class solemnly swears never to tell anyone their secret.