Kinderseele ("child-soul") is a short story written by Hermann Hesse. He wrote it between the end of 1918 and the beginning of 1919, at the age of 41. At that time Hesse lived in Bern, Switzerland, where he emigrated to after he had lost his father in 1916, and while his wife and one of his three sons had fallen seriously ill. In addition, he himself was under psychiatric treatment. Kinderseele was published in November 1919 in Die deutsche Rundschau under the pen name Emil Sinclair.