The Brothers Lionheart

The Brothers Lionheart

Astrid Lindgren

Children's Books

The Brothers Lionheart (Swedish: Bröderna Lejonhjärta) is a children's fantasy novel written by Astrid Lindgren. It was published in the autumn of 1973 and has been translated into 46 languages. Many of its themes are unusually dark and heavy for the children's book genre. Disease, death, tyranny, betrayal and rebellion are some of the dark themes that permeate the story. The lighter themes of the book involve platonic love, loyalty, hope, courage and pacifism. The two main characters are two brothers; the older Jonatan and the younger Karl. The two brothers' surname was originally Lion, but they are generally known as Lionheart. Karl's nickname is Skorpan (Rusky) since Jonatan likes these typical Swedish toasts or crusts. In Nangijala, a land in "the campfires and storytelling days", the brothers experience adventures. Together with a resistance group they lead the struggle against the evil Tengil, who rules with the aid of the fearsome fire-breathing dragon, Katla.
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A World Gone Mad: The Wartime Diaries

A World Gone Mad: The Wartime Diaries

Astrid Lindgren

Children's Books

I maj 2015 är det 70 år sedan andra världskriget tog slut. Under hela kriget skriver Astrid Lindgren dagbok där hon berättar om vardagen i Stockholm, om det som händer i världen och om Sveriges agerande under kriget. Astrid Lindgrens krigsdagböcker är en mycket personlig skildring av hur dramatiska världshändelser påverkar oss alla. Texten är laddad med stor sorg och förfäran. Det här är före Astrid Lindgrens tid som världsberömd författare; den första boken om Pippi Långstrump kommer ut samma år som kriget slutar, 1945. Blandat med Astrid Lindgrens egna anteckningar innehåller dagböckerna mängder av utklippta artiklar ur svenska tidningar som hon kommenterar. I boken återfinns över 70 faksimilbilder av dagboksuppslagen och många hittills opublicerade familjebilder från krigsåren. Författaren Kerstin Ekman, som kände Astrid Lindgren, skriver förord och Astrids dotter, Karin Nyman, skriver efterord. Totalt är det 17 dagböcker som kommer ut i bokform. Astrid Lindgren är ständigt aktuell och en daglig referenspunkt i samhällsdebatten. Hennes böcker är en omistlig del av vårt kulturarv och når oavbrutet nya läsare och får nya betydelser runt om i världen. Vad många inte vet är att hon var en tidig anti-nazist och att hon genom hela sitt liv kämpade mot krig och våld. Hon var en övertygad humanist och en människa som tänkte själv, stod för sina åsikter med såväl civilkurage som humor och kärlek. I maj 2015 släpps Astrid Lindgrens krigsdagböcker så som hon skrev dem. Ett unikt dokument från en vanlig människa och en av världens mest kända svenskar.
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Seacrow Island

Seacrow Island

Astrid Lindgren

Children's Books

Tiny Seacrow Island is one of hundreds of islands in the sparkling blue of the Baltic Sea. Though small, it has everything you’d want in an island: woods to wander in, flowers to pick, fish to catch, boats to sail in, all kinds of animals. But it doesn’t have very many young people. So when the four Melkerson kids and their father move into Carpenter’s Cottage one June day, they’re immediately welcomed by the resourceful islanders: Johan and Niklas Melkerson, at twelve and thirteen, are natural companions for adventurous Freddy and Teddy (girls exactly their age); dreamy Pelle, the baby of the family, gets up to trouble with bossy Tjorven and fanciful Stina; and ever-responsible Malin, who at nineteen looks after her scatterbrained father as well as her brothers, catches the eye of all the island’s young men. Before long Seacrow Island and Carpenter’s Cottage (tumbledown and leaky though it may be) have become a real home for the Melkersons.  Seacrow Island is a remarkable story, filled with sweetness and sorrow, humor and suspense, and peopled with the vivid, unexpected, wonderfully winning characters we’ve come to expect from the creator of the unforgettable Pippi Longstocking.
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Mio, My Son

Mio, My Son

Astrid Lindgren

Children's Books

Nine-year-old Karl Anders Nilsson is the unwelcome foster child of an uncaring couple. Lonely and neglected, he yearns for simple things, things that many children already have: a warm, loving home of his own, someone to share his sorrows and joys with, and, most important, his real father.  Then, on October 15th, Karl Anders Nilsson simply disappears. Where has he gone? (Police are searching for him!) But Karl is far away from chilly Stockholm, in Farawayland, where he has found his father, who is none other than the King of that land. And now Karl faces a truly dangerous mission. Prophecies have foretold his coming for thousands of years. He, his new best friend Pompoo, and Miramis, his wonderful flying horse with a golden mane, must travel together into the darkness of Outer Land to do battle with Sir Kato, the cruel abductor of the children of Farawayland. Only a child of the royal blood can stop him....
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Astrid Lindgren: The Woman Behind Pippi Longstocking

Astrid Lindgren: The Woman Behind Pippi Longstocking

Astrid Lindgren

Children's Books

The first English]'language biography of Astrid Lindgren provides a moving and revealing portrait of the beloved Scandinavian literary icon whose adventures of Pippi Longstocking have influenced generations of young readers all over the world. Lindgren's sometimes turbulent life as an unwed teenage mother, outspoken advocate for the rights of women and children, and celebrated editor and author is chronicled in fascinating detail by Jens Andersen, one of Denmark's most popular biographers. Based on extensive research and access to primary sources and letters, this highly readable account describes Lindgren's battles with depression and her personal struggles through war, poverty, motherhood, and fame. Andersen examines the writer's oeuvre as well to uncover the secrets to the books' universal appeal and why they have resonated so strongly with young readers for more than seventy years.
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Pippi Goes on Board

Pippi Goes on Board

Astrid Lindgren

Children's Books

Outrageous Pippi Longstocking of Villa Villekulla has no parents around and no rules to follow, so she lives according to her own daredevilish ways. She has been treating her friends Tommy and Annika to wild adventures, too - like buying, and eating, seventy-two pounds of candy on a shopping trip, or sailing off to an island in the middle of a lake to show them what it's like to be shipwrecked. But then Pippi's long lost father returns, and she might have to leave Villa Villekulla!
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Astrid Lindgren, illustrated by Ilon Wikland, translated from the Swedish by Jill Morgan

Astrid Lindgren, illustrated by Ilon Wikland, translated from the Swedish by Jill Morgan

Astrid Lindgren

Children's Books

Nine-year-old Karl Anders Nilsson is the unwelcome foster child of an uncaring couple. Lonely and neglected, he yearns for simple things, things that many children already have: a warm, loving home of his own, someone to share his sorrows and joys with, and, most important, his real father. Then, on October 15th, Karl Anders Nilsson simply disappears. Where has he gone? (Police are searching for him!) But Karl is far away from chilly Stockholm, in Farawayland, where he has found his father, who is none other than the King of that land. And now Karl faces a truly dangerous mission. Prophecies have foretold his coming for thousands of years. He, his new best friend Pompoo, and Miramis, his wonderful flying horse with a golden mane, must travel together into the darkness of Outer Land to do battle with Sir Kato, the cruel abductor of the children of Farawayland. Only a child of the royal blood can stop him....
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War Diaries, 1939-1945

War Diaries, 1939-1945

Astrid Lindgren

Children's Books

These personal diaries kept by Astrid Lindgren, author of the world famous Pippi Longstocking books, chronicle the horrors of World War II.Before she became internationally known for her Pippi Longstocking books, Astrid Lindgren was an aspiring author living in Stockholm with her family at the outbreak of the Second World War. The diaries she kept throughout the hostilities offer a civilian's, a mother's, and an aspiring writer's unique account of the devastating conflict. She emerges as a morally courageous critic of violence and war, as well as a deeply sensitive and astute observer of world affairs. We hear her thoughts about rationing, blackouts, the Soviet invasion of Finland, and the nature of evil, as well as of her personal heartbreaks, financial struggles, and trials as a mother and writer.Posthumously published in Sweden to great international acclaim, these diaries were called in the Swedish press an "unparalleled war narrative,"...
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