Around the World: Literature should be FUN!
Pippi Longstocking!!!!
So, I'm no expert in education or literature, not even close, not even a little. But I like to read and I was a preschool teacher for many years and I know if you want your kids to love to read then they need FUN BOOKS!! And if the fun books can also teach them about another place and time then all the better! So when we were thinking about Sweden and what kind of fun things we could do, I remembered the fun I had as a child reading Pippi Longstocking books! Did you ever read them? They were written by Astrid Lindgren in the mid 60s and set in a small village in Sweden. The main character of Pippi is a wacky girl, stronger then humanly possible, and able to get into shenanigans like no one else. She and the two neighbor kids, Tommy and Annika, the monkey, Mr. Nilsson, and the horse who lives on the porch (!) have wonderful, naughty adventures. My daughter and I have started reading it and she is asking so many questions and is so curious about Pippi! I love it! This is really our first adventure in chapter books, so I'm not sure if we'll get far ,but so far she is enjoying her taste of Sweden with one of Sweden's most lovable characters. We ordered the books from Amazon, they are still in print. Here is a link . If you are as old as I am, 41 (gasp! I feel old), you might remember the tv movies with Pippi from the 70s.
They had them on Amazon too, so we ordered one. Now, ok, this is not the finest filmmaking in the world, and the english is dubbed (obviously at times) but my 3 year old son made it through most of it and was really enjoying it and I was having my flashback to simpler times. The movies are a great way to see what the homes and villages of Sweden looked like in the late 60s. I can vividly remember sitting on our brown plaid couch (the 70s, remember) and watching these movies on Saturday morning on our 20" tv. Ahhh memories :)
Speaking of memories, here is my daughter when she was 7 months old already showing her love of Pippi Longstocking!
So, I'm no expert in education or literature, not even close, not even a little. But I like to read and I was a preschool teacher for many years and I know if you want your kids to love to read then they need FUN BOOKS!! And if the fun books can also teach them about another place and time then all the better! So when we were thinking about Sweden and what kind of fun things we could do, I remembered the fun I had as a child reading Pippi Longstocking books! Did you ever read them? They were written by Astrid Lindgren in the mid 60s and set in a small village in Sweden. The main character of Pippi is a wacky girl, stronger then humanly possible, and able to get into shenanigans like no one else. She and the two neighbor kids, Tommy and Annika, the monkey, Mr. Nilsson, and the horse who lives on the porch (!) have wonderful, naughty adventures. My daughter and I have started reading it and she is asking so many questions and is so curious about Pippi! I love it! This is really our first adventure in chapter books, so I'm not sure if we'll get far ,but so far she is enjoying her taste of Sweden with one of Sweden's most lovable characters. We ordered the books from Amazon, they are still in print. Here is a link . If you are as old as I am, 41 (gasp! I feel old), you might remember the tv movies with Pippi from the 70s. 
Speaking of memories, here is my daughter when she was 7 months old already showing her love of Pippi Longstocking!
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