Book Reviews
“The Little Prince” was born in 1943, in America, where Antoine de Saint-Exupery escaped from Nazi-occupied France. The unusual tale, equally well-received by children and adults alike, proved relevant not only during World War II. Today it continues to be read by people trying to find in “The Little Prince” answers to eternal questions about …
The sparkling stories about a girl with carrot-colored hair were written in the late 1940s and still remain the benchmark for new-age children’s literature, while Pippi herself – for foreigners, at least – has become a symbol of Sweden, something like Marianne for France. The figure in colorful stockings looks contradictory, to put it mildly: …
Illustrator and writer Sven Nordqvist is the creator of what is arguably the best cat in world literature: a shrewd, touching, naughty, childlike pet who is forgiven for any mischief. And although the main purveyor of stories is Findus, more important here is the atmosphere, for which the cat’s patron and supervisor, the wacky farmer …
“The Children of Captain Grant” by Jules Verne is one of the famous classic suspense novels that have a great influence on the younger generation. This novel is not driven by trivial lessons (for any lessons are quickly forgotten), but a wonderful artistic vision, which clarifies the whole science of life, inspires a desire to …
“Niels” was written at the request of the National Association of Teachers – as an entertaining, fairy tale-like guide to Swedish geography. There is a lot of magic in this story, and it’s much harder to explain not how the boy could shrink to the size of a cucumber and fly around Sweden on a …
The image of the flying barrel brought together the ideas of readers of all ages about how an ideal imaginary friend should look and behave: eccentric, has paranormal powers, is capricious, can put anyone in their place – and bring hope back in the most desperate circumstances. People are used to Carlson – and yet …
This is the story of a little girl, Sarah Crewe, who spent her entire childhood in India with her father, Ralph Crewe. But then he decided that Sarah needed a proper education and brought her to England, where he placed her in Miss Minchin’s boarding house. For several years Sarah lived safely in the boarding …