Reviews, Recommendations & Features
Contemporaneous Reviews of Pippi Longstocking
Horn Book
"A rollicking story of Pippi, who lives without any grownups in a little house at the edge of the village. The matter-of-fact ways in which her absurd adventures are related is one of the chief charms of this story."
Kirkus Reviews
"A fresh delicious fantasy that children will love. In the character of 9-year-old Pippi Longstocking, who was lucky to have no parents to tell her what to do, is a juvenile Robin Hood with the authority of Mammy Yokum and a Mighty Mouse. Pippi- red headed, in longstockings (one black and one brown), and the strongest girl in the world was the friend of Tommy and Annika. Calmly and ingeniously she put down the enemy forces of the adult world -- with a serene efficiency. The teacher was baffled by her logic in pointing out the futility of learning arithmetic; bullies she hoisted on trees; at the circus Pippi rode bareback, walked the tightrope, and wrestled the wrestling champ; cream and sugar flowed (on the floor) when Pippi attended a ladies' coffee party where she revealed "horrid things" with the complacency of Eliza Doolittle. Champion of fun, freedom and fantasy and long happy thoughts, Pippi is an inspired creation knit from daydreams."
Amazon
"Pippi is an irrepressible, irreverent, and irrefutably delightful girl who lives alone (with a monkey) in her wacky house, Villa Villekulla. When she's not dancing with the burglars who were just trying to rob her house, she's attempting to learn the "pluttification" tables at school; fighting Adolf, the strongest man in the world at the circus; or playing tag with police officers. Pippi's high-spirited, good-natured hijinks cause as much trouble as fun, but a more generous child you won't find anywhere.Astrid Lindgren has created a unique and lovable character, inspiring generations of children to want to be Pippi. More than anything, Pippi makes reading a pleasure; no child will welcome the end of the book, and many will return to Pippi Longstocking again and again. Simply put, Pippi is irresistible."
"A rollicking story of Pippi, who lives without any grownups in a little house at the edge of the village. The matter-of-fact ways in which her absurd adventures are related is one of the chief charms of this story."
Kirkus Reviews
"A fresh delicious fantasy that children will love. In the character of 9-year-old Pippi Longstocking, who was lucky to have no parents to tell her what to do, is a juvenile Robin Hood with the authority of Mammy Yokum and a Mighty Mouse. Pippi- red headed, in longstockings (one black and one brown), and the strongest girl in the world was the friend of Tommy and Annika. Calmly and ingeniously she put down the enemy forces of the adult world -- with a serene efficiency. The teacher was baffled by her logic in pointing out the futility of learning arithmetic; bullies she hoisted on trees; at the circus Pippi rode bareback, walked the tightrope, and wrestled the wrestling champ; cream and sugar flowed (on the floor) when Pippi attended a ladies' coffee party where she revealed "horrid things" with the complacency of Eliza Doolittle. Champion of fun, freedom and fantasy and long happy thoughts, Pippi is an inspired creation knit from daydreams."
Amazon
"Pippi is an irrepressible, irreverent, and irrefutably delightful girl who lives alone (with a monkey) in her wacky house, Villa Villekulla. When she's not dancing with the burglars who were just trying to rob her house, she's attempting to learn the "pluttification" tables at school; fighting Adolf, the strongest man in the world at the circus; or playing tag with police officers. Pippi's high-spirited, good-natured hijinks cause as much trouble as fun, but a more generous child you won't find anywhere.Astrid Lindgren has created a unique and lovable character, inspiring generations of children to want to be Pippi. More than anything, Pippi makes reading a pleasure; no child will welcome the end of the book, and many will return to Pippi Longstocking again and again. Simply put, Pippi is irresistible."
Pippi Longstocking & Lisbeth Salander
Swedish journalist, Steig Larsson, was a social activist fascinated by the character Pippi Longstocking. He wrote his book "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" after reflecting on who he thought Pippi would become as an adult. The main character of the Millenium trilogy is a woman named Lisbeth Salander, who shares many characteristics with the young Pippi. She is rash and rebellious, with a coffee addiction, a strong will and Attention Deficit Disorder tendencies. When meeting with his publisher to deliver the manuscript, Steig reflected on the idea of Pippi as an adult and asked, "Would she be called a sociopath because she looked upon society in a different way and has no social competence?”
Upon the release of Larsson's third book of the Millenium Trilogy, New York times wrote;
"An old colleague of Mr. Larsson’s has said they once talked about how certain characters from children’s books would manage and behave if they were older. Mr. Larsson especially liked the idea of a grown-up Pippi, a dysfunctional girl, probably with attention deficit disorder, who would have had a hard time finding a place in society but would nonetheless take a firm hand in directing her own destiny. That musing led to the creation of Lisbeth Salander, the central character in Mr. Larsson’s trilogy."
Upon the release of Larsson's third book of the Millenium Trilogy, New York times wrote;
"An old colleague of Mr. Larsson’s has said they once talked about how certain characters from children’s books would manage and behave if they were older. Mr. Larsson especially liked the idea of a grown-up Pippi, a dysfunctional girl, probably with attention deficit disorder, who would have had a hard time finding a place in society but would nonetheless take a firm hand in directing her own destiny. That musing led to the creation of Lisbeth Salander, the central character in Mr. Larsson’s trilogy."
Pippi Longstocking featured on Google
November 26, 2010
For Pippi's 65th birthday, she made an appearance on one of the world's most frequently used websites: Google. She was pictured using her superhuman strength to lift her pet horse one-handed.
For Pippi's 65th birthday, she made an appearance on one of the world's most frequently used websites: Google. She was pictured using her superhuman strength to lift her pet horse one-handed.