Pippi Longstocking (1945)

I struggled a bit with how to rate this one, though ultimately I think most of those struggles are more about an adult reading a children’s book than it is genuine problems with the book.

This is quite a bit more episodic than I tend to prefer, it’s more a series of adventures than a plot, the characters don’t do much in the way of growing or changing, it felt odd how little effort any adult puts in with Pippi when she’s all alone in the world, and near the end its more than a little disturbing when nine year old Pippi starts playing with pistols.

But while episodic isn’t really my thing, it probably does work well for the children this book is actually intended for, making it easy and convenient to read bite-size segments of the book, particularly handy I’m sure for reluctant readers.

Those same kids won’t likely dwell on the lack of adult care for Pippi like I did, they’ll embrace that Pippi is so independent, she makes her own rules, has her own house and bakes a million sweet treats any time she pleases. I’m sure those aspects of the book probably held a ton of appeal to me back when I first read this, too.

Most importantly, it’s really easy to love Pippi. She’s fun and funny, she says nonsensical things, and has a pet monkey. And there still aren’t enough books out there where the girl is the mischief maker, where the girl is perfectly comfortable in her own skin, where the girl is something of a superhero, so in the end it’s not that hard to overlook the weirdly complacent adult characters and the even weirder presence of pistols (actually that is still pretty hard to overlook) and just appreciate Pippi for the literary legend that she deservedly is. ( )

Un libro genial. En cuanto tenga dinero, este se vendrá a mi estantería de manera fija.
¿Quién no querría una amiga como Pippi? :) ( )

Great version of Pippi, Lauren Child is one of my new favorite illustrators. Her use of pattern and line in this book is amazing. She has created such a quirky, fun Pippi. I will be referring to this book often for inspiration. ( )

I have heard so much about this book and everyone references it. I have never read it though.

I liked this novel more as a kid than an adult. ( )