K is for Karlsson på Taket

Karlsson på Taket (Karlsson on the roof) is a book by Astrid Lindgren.

Karlsson is a mischievous little man who often visits Lillebror (a kid called little brother) and gets him into trouble. He lives in the apartment block and everything seems completely ordinary. But Karlsson has this little button on his belly and when he pushes it a little propellor appears on his back, allowing him to fly around. 

Here is a little clip from the animated series:

I think it's really cute. I like the way it's animated too :) Had you heard of this story? It's one of Lindgren's more well known stories but I've never actually read it. 

the little nordic cabin

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C is for Captain Longstocking

Ok, so fun fact about the Nordic languages: They don't really have the letter "C". Swedish does, but after searching my brainbox all day, I couldn't come up with anyone. So please forgive my cheating, "captain" begins with a "k" in Swedish, but we're speaking English over here, so I think it's ok :)

Captain Longstocking is Pippi Longstocking's father. He is the only person who is as strong as Pippi and it is from him that she inherited her knowledge and sense. He went missing and was feared dead, but actually he had washed up on an island and became a chief there. Despite Pippi's love for life aboard ship, when her father returned she decided to stay in the house he gave her as the stable life that he had intended for her was something that she had become attached to. On one trip to the island where her father was chief, Pippi was renamed Princess Pippilotta. She had always imagined that while he was missing he had become king of the land somewhere, so it is fitting that Captain Longstocking's little daughter should become 'princess'. 

the little nordic cabin

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A is for Astrid Lindgren

Hi newcomers, welcome to my blog :) My posts during this challenge will be Nordic-themed and I very much hope you enjoy them :) I'm beginning this morning with A for Astrid Lindgren:


"En barndom utan böcker, det vore ingen barndom. Det vore att vara utestängd från det förtrollade landet, där man kan hämta den sällsammaste av all glädje.”

-       “A childhood without books would be no childhood. It would be like being shut out from the enchanted place where you can go and find the rarest kind of joy.”

Astrid Lindgren was a Swedish Author, born in 1907 and most popularly known for her stories of Pippi Longstocking, a character she had invented whilst taking care of her daughter, who was very unwell at the time.

Have you read any of her books? I read the Pippi Longstocking stories as a child and am currently reading “Mio, min Mio” (English title: Mio, My Son) and Madicken. The thing that I love most about these stories, is their simplicity. Lindgren takes simple childhood activities and turns them into great adventures.

Mio min mio is the story of a young boy who is being looked after by a horrible elderly couple. One day, a genie takes him to a land far, far away, where he finds his real father, the king. However, beyond this far away land is another place, where an evil knight resides. This knight has been stealing children and it is Mio’s destiny to fight him. Lindgren builds a beautiful world in the telling of this tale. It is both sad and moving but also fills the reader with hope. The storyline might sound like a typical ‘kid gets adopted by awful people, escapes and finds his real father, who happens to be a hero” but Lindgren brings so much more to the story than that. All of her stories can be found in English translation and I recommend them whole-heartedly, not only for children, but for adults too! 

Astrid Lindgren truly did create that “enchanted place where you can go and find the rarest kind of joy”.

Just look at her, she was so very sweet! I’d love her to be my grandmother! Did you know that an asteroid that was discovered in 1978 was named after Astrid Lindgren? It is called the 3204 Lindgren and after it was named, Astrid Lindgren joked, “From now on you can address me Asteroid Lindgren!” Adorable!


(PS: Please let me know if my text size is too small. As a fellow glasses-wearer, I know it can be annoying to read teeny-tiny text!)

(pictures lovingly taken from here, here, here & here) 

inspire nordic