📚 Book📚 Kids · Ages 7–10Humor

Pippi Longstocking (1945)

About This Book

Pippi Longstocking lives alone in a ramshackle house with a horse on the porch and a monkey named Mr. Nilsson, no parents, no rules, and the strength to lift a horse with one hand. She befriends the well-behaved siblings Tommy and Annika next door and introduces them to a life of gleeful chaos: she outsmarts police officers, defeats professional wrestlers, and attends school exactly once before deciding it's not for her. She is freedom incarnate.

Why It's a Classic

Astrid Lindgren wrote Pippi as a birthday present for her daughter, and the character's uninhibited joy has the quality of a wish fulfilled: what if a child had total power and total freedom and used them for nothing but kindness and fun? Pippi overturns every expectation of how a girl should behave, and she does it without anger or ideology, simply by being herself so completely that convention cannot touch her. Lindgren's genius was making Pippi strong without making her a bully; Pippi only uses her superhuman strength to help others or to resist adult authority figures who are themselves bullying. The contrast between Pippi's anarchic household and Tommy and Annika's orderly, conventional home creates comedy and social commentary in equal measure. The book was revolutionary when published in 1945 and remains so, because the desire for that kind of freedom never goes out of style.

Fun Fact

Lindgren's publisher initially rejected the manuscript, and when it was finally published in Sweden, critics called it dangerous because they feared it would encourage children to disobey adults. Pippi's full name is Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Mackrelmint Ephraim's Daughter Longstocking, which Lindgren's daughter Karin invented. The books have been translated into over 70 languages and have sold more than 165 million copies worldwide, making Pippi one of the most widely read characters in children's literature.

Parent Note

Pippi lives without parental supervision and openly defies adult authority, which is the entire point of the character. Some parents worry this will encourage disobedience, though children generally understand the fantasy element. The book reflects some 1940s cultural attitudes that modern translations have updated. Suitable for ages 6 and up.