“Hooray, hooray, hooray!” yelled all the people. But someone yelled it four times. And that someone was Pippi.
The eponymous heroine is a precocious nine-year old, red haired, pig-tailed, Swedish girl who lives in her house, Villa Villekulla, with her monkey, Mr. Nilsson, and her horse. She lives without parents. Pippi assets…
My mum is an angel and my dad is a South Sea Island king.
Her father, a ship’s captain, by all other accounts, perished at sea.
This first book in the series recounts Pippi’s adventures with two neighbor children. Annika and Tommy know that whatever they may do…
…it’s always more fun with Pippi.
Pippi is always confident and ever pleased with herself and her own company. One day alone at Villa Villekulla she paints a large picture on the wallpaper.
It was a picture of a rather large lady in a red dress and black hat. In one hand she was holding a flower and in the other a dead rat. It was a very beautiful painting, thought Pippi. It brightened up the whole room.
Pippi’s full name is: Pippilotta Victoriaria Tea-cozy Apple-minta Ephraim’s-daughter Longstocking.
This may seem like an odd thing for me to read. I needed a book with an item of footwear in the title, and since I stick mostly to classics, this satisfies both. It is definitely a young person’s story, but lengthy enough and grammatically complex enough to be considered a children’s novella.
I read it, or another edition in the series, as a child. It didn’t make much of an impact. I don’t think it has aged well. Pippi is confident to the point of arrogant, daring to the point of reckless, and independent to the point of disrespectful. I know it’s a whimsical story and allowed to be fantastic, but many of Pippi’s actions are quite dangerous. Pippi swallows a red death cap mushroom, for instance, with no concern and no ill effect. It was written in a more innocent age, but I’m still a bit incredulous. Not sure what the message is supposed to be.
I think children might still enjoy it, and mostly for that I give it…
3 1/2 out of 5 stars
This novel satisfies the “footwear” category: (title must mention a type of footwear) in the What’s in a Name 2024 challenge.
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I remember seeing a Pippi film, but had no idea it was a book!
ReplyDeleteI very vaguely remember the film. Seems like it could have been fun.
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