Lindgren, Astrid and Nyman, Ingrid: Do You Know Pippi Longstocking?

Lindgren, Astrid and Nyman, Ingrid

Do You Know Pippi Longstocking?

Oxford, 201 5, pp32, 6.99[pounds sterling]

978 0 19 273903 2

This paperback edition is a welcome revival of Astrid Lindgren's own introduction for the young reader to her anarchic creation, Pippi Longstocking. Selected episodes from the full-length Pippi Longstocking, for example Pippi making gingerbread on the floor, riding her pony indoors or balancing on a circus high wire, seem as fresh, lively and irreverent as they were when first published in Sweden in the 1940s. Ingrid Nyman's wonderfully ramshackle pictures use a bird's eye perspective, primary colour and masses of detail, and are a revelation to anyone not familiar with the Swedish illustrations of Lindgren's book. No translator is credited for the English language version of this book.

A publication that inspires children to get to know the anarchic Pippi, one of the greatest characters in all children's literature, is an essential addition to any library.

Gillian Lathey