The Grey Gentlemen1974
(Momo oder Die seltsame Geschichte von den Zeit-Dieben und von dem Kind, das den Menschen die gestohlene Zeit zurückbrachte)
by Michael Ende
The Neverending Story is Michael Ende's best-known book, but Momo, published six years earlier, is the all-ages fantasy novel that first won him wide acclaim. After the sweet-talking gray men come to town, life becomes terminally efficient. Can Momo, a young orphan girl blessed with the gift of listening, vanquish the ashen-faced time thieves before joy vanishes forever?
— from OpenLibrary
108 editions at OpenLibrary