22. Pippi Longstocking

Pippi Longstocking. Astrid Lindgren. 1945. 160 pages. [Source: Library] [Children's Classic; J Fantasy]

First sentence: Way out at the end of a tiny little town was an old overgrown garden, and in the garden was an old house, and in the house lived Pippi Longstocking.

Premise/plot: Pippi Longstocking is a hoot of a book. This orphaned nine year old has enough adventures for the whole town. So Pippi, our heroine, lives on her own and by her own rules. Sometimes—okay most of the time—she tells taradiddles. Her two best friends, Tommy and Annika, can tell the difference, mostly.

My thoughts: I can’t believe it took me so long to reread this one. I just loved, loved, loved it. Pippi is like the exact opposite of Anne Shirley. Both are charming and delightful characters. But Pippi needs no one and can’t be bested. She’s way over the top. The two can’t really be compared though; it’s like comparing chocolate and roller coasters.

My favorite scene? Would it be Pippi attending school or playing tag with the police officers? Probably the school incident.

“You ought to know about the schools in Argentina,” said Pippi, looking down at the children. “That’s where you should go. Easter vacation begins three days after Christmas vacation ends, and when Easter vacation is over there are three days and then it’s summer vacation. Summer vacation ends on the first of November, and then you have a tough time until Christmas vacation begins on November 11. But you can stand that because there are at least no lessons.” (59-60)

Other favorite quotes:

“I am a Thing-Finder, and when you’re a Thing-Finder you don’t have a minute to spare.” (26)

“Why do you have a horse on the porch?” asked Tommy. All horses he knew lived in stables. “Well,” said Pippi thoughtfully, “he’d be in the way in the kitchen and he doesn’t like the parlor.” (19)

“I have got along fine without any pluttifikation tables for nine years,” said Pippi “and I guess I’ll get along without it from now on, too.” (41)

“He says that anybody who can lick that big man will get a hundred dollars,” answered Tommy. “I can,” said Pippi, “But I think it would be too bad to, because he looks nice.” “Oh, no, you couldn’t,” said Annika, “he’s the strongest man in the world.” “Man, yes,” said Pippi, “But I am the strongest girl in the world, remember that.” (99)

© 2020 Becky Laney of Young Readers

Too Big

Too Big. Ingri d'Aulaire and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire. 1945/2008. NYR Children's Collection. 40 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: There once was a boy and he was TOO BIG. He could not get into his little pants because he was TOO BIG. He could not get into his little coat because he was TOO BIG.

Premise/plot: The boy in this story has outgrown all his favorite things. He's just too big now. But being too big won't keep him from dreaming big.

My thoughts: Too Big was originally published in 1945. I personally love the vintage illustrations. I particularly love the cat and dog. I want to crawl into the book and just play with them and pet them. Half the illustrations are in color, the other half are in black and white. The story itself is very simple. To be honest, there's not much text to it at all! This being for better or worse. The repetition is strong with this one. Some sentences worked better for me than others. For example, it's easy to outgrow clothes, shoes, hats, etc. But the authors use the phrase "too big" to also stand in for "big enough to know better." (So he's too big to play rough with the cat.) The whole sequence with the horse just confused me. (Another thing I found confusing, why does the boy's milk glass read GOOD BOY?)

Text: 3 out of 5
Illustrations: 4 out of 5
Total: 7 out of 10

© 2017 Becky Laney of Young Readers