Swedish tale for kids
Pippi Lambemouze means long socks. Astrid Lindgran's book for children in Swedish, has been translated to Hindi by Sandhya Rao and Meta Auttoson. The illustrations are by Ingrid Newman.
Pippi, the protagonist, who is always wearing knee-length mismatched socks (that's where the name of the story comes from), is orphaned at a young age. She loses her mother when she is barely a child and her father has mysteriously disappeared into the sea. The young girl lives all alone in an eerie house with a wild, unkept garden. Pippi believes that her father is an emperor of the sea and will one day fetch her to rein that kingdom.
The book is all about Pippi's adventures and takes you into a make believe world. Pippi is an overconfident girl, who can not only take care of herself, but can also bake her own biscuits and make tea! She hates school and thinks one learns the lessons of life better through experience and so she can even be the perfect stuntman, climbing trees, catching thieves and so on. The last chapter is full of excitement with Pippi telling her friends that there are ghosts in her attic. The suspense builds up and one wonders if Pippi herself is the ghost. But just when you begin to believe that she is a ghost, comes the twist.
This book for slightly older children, probably age group of eight to 10, is engaging, but is unlike other Tulika books, which come with plenty of illustrations. The story, however, with a plot that is so unusual for an Indian child, opens a new worldview.
It is priced at Rs. 50. For details e-mail www.tulikabooks.com
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