Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren

Title: The Adventures of Pippi Longstocking

Work includes: Pippi Longstocking, Pippi Goes On Board, and Pippi in the South Seas

(Originally written in Swedish)

Author: Astrid Lindgren (Swedish, 1907-2002)
Originally published: 1945-1948
Page count: 96, 93, 85 (Av. of several versions: 160, 145, 130)
Dates read: 3/17/19/-3/20/19
2019 book goal progress:  11 out of 41
Back to the Classics category: Classic Novella (under 250 pages)
Read my other book reviews from the challenge HERE.

Description on back of book:
Since Pippi Longstocking was first published in 1950, the escapades of the incomparable Pippi, the girl with upside-down braids and no parents to tell her what to do, have delighted boys and girls alike. Now, for the first time, Pippi Longstocking, Pippi Goes on Board, and Pippi in the South Seas are all together in one bumper volume, with new illustrations in full-color and black-and-white.

First sentence:
Pippi Longstocking: "Way out at the end of a tiny little town was an old overgrown garden, and in the garden was an old house, and in the house lived Pippi Longstocking."

Pippi Goes on Board: "If a stranger should come to a certain little Swedish town and should happen to find himself at a certain spot on the edge of it, he would see Villa Villekulla."

Pippi in the South Seas: "The little Swedish town was very picturesque, with its cobblestone streets, its tiny houses and the gardens that surrounded them."

Favorite quotes:
"Nightshirts aren't dangerous. They don't bite anybody except in self-defense."
-Pippi Longstocking

"The tiger growled ferociously and showed his enormous teeth. Pippi held up a warning finger. 'If you bite me, I'll bite you. You can be sure of that!'" -Pippi Goes on Board

"Pippi Longstocking's manners may not always be what they ought to. But her heart is in the right place." -Pippi in the South Seas

Review:

The stories of Pippi Longstocking are humorous and quite nonsensical. Despite it being mostly lighthearted, there are some unexpectedly dark moments too. The books were OK - they just were too over-the-top and ridiculous to me. I wish I would've read them as a child - I probably would've loved Pippi.

Now I'm off to read another book... but since a review should be more about the author of the book than about the writer of the blog, I will let Astrid Lindgren have the last words:

"'Is Mr. Nilsson [a monkey] going to ride the merry-go-round too?' asked Annika, surprised.

'Of course,' said Pippi. 'If I'd thought about it I would have brought my horse too. He really needed a bit of entertainment, and a horse who rides on a horse - that would have been really horsy.'" -Pippi Goes on Board