Where does Astrid Lindgren live? Shocking Astrid Lindgren

The books of Astrid Anna Emilia Eriksson (1907-2002), better known as Astrid Lindgren, changed the whole world's attitude towards children in particular and childhood in general. They have been translated into almost a hundred languages, and their total circulation exceeds 150 million copies. In 1996, Russian scientists named an asteroid after the writer, and in 2015, her portrait took the place of Selma Lagerlöf on the Swedish 20 kronor bill. Years after Lindgren's death, previously unpublished books continue to become world bestsellers: these are the War Diaries, which Astrid Lindgren kept in the 1940s as a Swedish intelligence analyst, and correspondence with a German woman in love with her. Louise Hartung, published as a separate volume several years ago. In 2014, a biography of Astrid Lindgren, written by Jens Andersen, was published with previously unknown details. How did a provincial girl from a peasant family become one of the most famous writers in the history of literature?

Where it all started

Astrid was born into a peasant family in the Swedish province of Småland. Her parents raised their children in Lutheran traditions, but at the same time they allowed them to play for their own pleasure and gave them complete freedom. Childhood in Småland influenced many of Lindgren's books: Emil from The Adventures of Emil from Lönneberga is Astrid's older brother Gunnar, Madiken from Junibakken from the book of the same name is her best friend, with whom she climbed trees and roofs. The games and adventures of the children's company from Bullerby (“We are all from Bullerby”) are entirely based on events from the writer’s childhood.

In 1924, 17-year-old Astrid was one of the first to support the youth rebellion that had reached her hometown, the patriarchal town of Vimmerby: she had a short haircut and went to men's suits, causing sharp condemnation from parents. Then he becomes an intern at the local newspaper Vimmerby Tidning, where he carries out small assignments and writes short reports. Some time later, she begins an affair with newspaper owner Reinhold Bloomberg: he is 30 years older, married and has seven children from his first marriage. In 1926, Astrid's son Lars was born.  For a long time, Lars was considered the son of Astrid’s only husband, Sture Lindgren. Who his real father is will become known only in 2014, many years after the death of the writer, from Christina Lindström’s documentary “Astrid” and Jens Andersen’s biography “Astrid Lindgren. This day is life.".

© astridlindgren.se

Astrid (far right) with her friends. 1924© astridlindgren.se

“I grew up in an extremely respectable home. My parents are very religious. There has never been a single blemish on the reputation of our family - nay, of our entire family. I still remember how, even before Lasse was born, my mother was indignant if a young woman had a so-called out-of-wedlock child. And then this happens to me,” Lindgren later wrote in a letter to a woman whose child was raised in the same foster family as her son. Until the age of three, Lars lived with a foster family near Copenhagen. Astrid often visited her son, but this period of her life was the darkest and most painful, and the memories of him were very painful until her death.

How Astrid Lindgren became famous

Astrid with her son Lars. Late 1920s - early 1930s© astridlindgren.se

Astrid Lindgren at the International Grand Prix in Skåne as Secretary of the Royal Society of Motorists. 1933 © astridlindgren.se

In 1929, Astrid accepted the position of secretary of the Royal Society of Motorists in Stockholm, and two years later she married her boss, Sture Lindgren. In the fall of 1931, Astrid and Sture took Lars to Vulcanusgatan: for the next few years, Astrid sits at home with her son and often tells him stories that she makes up on the go. She writes down the most successful ones, and in 1933, Gunnar, in order to help his sister in need of money, helps publish these stories in the newspaper Stockholm Tidningen and the magazine Landsbygdens Jul, where he had acquaintances. Astrid herself would later call these stories stupid, but she would continue to write and send her manuscripts to magazines.

In 1944, Astrid offered her first serious manuscript, entitled “Pippi Longstocking,” to the Bonnier publishing house, which rejected her, but in the same year, Lindgren’s short story entitled “Britt Marie pours out her soul” received a second prize of 1,200 crowns at a book competition for girls, announced by the small new publishing house Raben and Sjögren. The owner of the publishing house, Hans Raben, was terribly disappointed that the competition was won by an ordinary housewife. However, despite this, a year later he agreed to publish “Pippi”: the book was an incredible success, and in 1946 Astrid was invited to the position of editor at the same publishing house. She would work there until her retirement in 1970.

All of her books have been and continue to be published by Raben and Sjögren. When asked what a children's book should be, Lindgren always answered: “It should be good. I assure you, I devoted a lot of thought to this question, but I couldn’t come up with another answer: it must be good.”

In 1952, Astrid's husband dies. She grieved his death, although many years later she admitted in a letter to her German friend Louise Hartung: “There is no man in the world who could seduce me into a new marriage. The opportunity to be alone is simply incredible happiness: to take care of yourself, have your own opinion, act independently, decide for yourself, arrange your life yourself, sleep, think, oh-oh-oh!”

In the 1950s and 60s, Astrid Lindgren writes the most famous books: “Mio, my Mio” (1954), trilogy about Carlson (1955-1968), “Rasmus the Tramp” (1956), “Madiken” (1960), “Emil from Lenneberga” (1963), “On the Island of Saltkrok” (1964), and in 1958 received the most prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Prize in the world of children's literature.

In the 1970s, Astrid participates in public debates, tries to convince skinheads and writes a column in the Expressen newspaper. In 1976, when she files her taxes, she discovers that her taxes are 102% of her income. Then Astrid composes her famous satirical tale “Pomperipossa of Monismania”, in which she ridicules Swedish tax policy. The fairy tale was published by Expressen, which caused a huge resonance throughout the country. Finance Minister Gunnar Strang was deeply outraged, and this started a debate about reforms to the Swedish tax system.

In America and Europe, Astrid Lindgren's books were published almost immediately after their release in Sweden, but they were not always received unambiguously. She was criticized mainly for her books about Pippi - for example, in France, the cycles about Pippi and Emil from Lenneberga were published in a rather conservative retelling, and later, in the 1990s, Pippi was considered a model of intolerance due to jokes about aborigines and Brazilians who break eggs on their heads.

"Pippi Longstocking" and the revolution in children's literature

Astrid Lindgren with her daughter Karin. 1934© astridlindgren.se

Astrid Lindgren with her daughter Karin. 1940s© astridlindgren.se

In 1934, Sture and Astrid had a daughter, Karin. When she was seven years old, she fell ill with pneumonia and asked her mother to tell her something. "What exactly?" - she asked. “Talk about Pippi Longstocking!” - suggested Karin, who composed on the fly unusual name. For several years in a row, Astrid continued to invent stories about Pippi, but she wrote them down only when she slipped and sprained her leg and ended up in bed for a while.  At the same time as Pippi, Astrid kept diaries, which she herself called “war diaries”. In them, she described her private life and reflected on war and politics - in particular, on whether Sweden should intervene in Russia’s war with Finland and whether the Germans would refute accusations of the brutal extermination of Jews.. She later noticed that she writes best in the early morning. “All of Sweden already knows: I’m so lazy that I write while lying in bed,” she noted in one interview.

When Karin turned ten, Astrid gave her the completed manuscript, and the second copy, as already mentioned, was sent to the largest Swedish publishing house, Bonnier. Later, the owner of the publishing house, Gerard Bonnier, recalled with regret that he did not dare to publish the book, which seemed to him too radical and challenging due to the character of the main character - a girl who did not obey any conventions. Before showing the text of “Raben and Sjögren,” Astrid revised the manuscript, removing the most harsh moments and correcting the style. The first (rejected) version was first published in 2007.

In the original, the heroine’s name is Pippi: this is how it sounds in Lyudmila Braude’s translation (1993). However, the translation by Lilianna Lungina, completed in 1965, is more popular. The full name of the red-haired girl is Peppilotta Viktualia Rulgardina Krisminta Efraimdotter Longstocking. Her mother died when Pippi was very little, and her father was a black king.  In the German translation of the book, for reasons of political correctness, he was made the king of the cannibals, and in Sweden in 2015, “Pippi” was edited, and the black king became the Pacific king., a sea captain who was washed away by a wave. Pippi is nine years old, she lives in the old villa “Chicken” with her horse and monkey named Mister Nilsson and embodies the child’s dream of permissiveness. This image is the exact opposite of the ideal of the Swedish girl of the 1940s, obedient, virtuous and hardworking.

Lindgren's pathos is not at all about rethinking gender roles  Pippi has remarkable strength, wealth, and unlimited freedom. Pippi sends herself to bed and gives herself a spanking.. Lindgren was one of the first to depict the world from the perspective of children, based on their motives, desires and needs. Her humor is read by both children and adults, and the books are completely devoid of teachings and morals. Books about Pippi crossed out the tradition of depicting a child as a being who needs to be instilled with various virtues.

“Mio, my Mio” and other books about loneliness

Cover of the first edition of Astrid Lindgren's story “Mio, my Mio.” 1954

Lars, son of Astrid Lindgren. 1930s© astridlindgren.se

In the early 1950s, returning from work in the evening through Tegner Park, Astrid saw a lonely boy sitting on a bench. She quietly followed him to the entrance to house 13B on Uplandsgatan Street: this is how the image of Busse emerged - an unloved child in a foster family, who became the main character of “Mio, my Mio” (1954). The hero of the book also lives on Uplandsgatan  In Russian translation, the house number is 13., tolerates swearing and nagging foster parents and dreams of a real father.

The theme of loneliness and orphanhood can be seen in almost all of Astrid’s books - the adopted Mio, the orphaned Pippi, Rasmus from the book “Rasmus the Tramp” (1956). Perhaps this is how Astrid experienced the loneliness of her son, who spent the first three years of his life in a foster family.

The book about Mio changed the attitude towards children's literature in Sweden. Professor Olle Holmberg, who enjoyed great authority in literary circles, wrote in a review for the Dagens Nyheter newspaper that “children’s books deserve to be taken as seriously as adults.”

Cycle about Carlson: the strangest children's book

Cover of the first edition of the story “Carlson Who Lives on the Roof” by Astrid Lindgren. Illustrations by Elon Wikland. 1955 © Publishing House Rabén & Sjögren

Cover of the first edition of the story “Carlson, who lives on the roof, has flown in again” by Astrid Lindgren. Illustrations by Elon Wikland. 1962 © Publishing House Rabén & Sjögren

Cover of the first edition of the story “Carlson, who lives on the roof, plays pranks again” by Astrid Lindgren. Illustrations by Elon Wikland. 1968 © Publishing House Rabén & Sjögren

The series about Carlson consists of three books: “The Kid and Carlson, Who Lives on the Roof” (1955), “Carlson, Who Lives on the Roof, Has Arrived Again” (1962) and “Carlson, Who Lives on the Roof, Plays Pranks Again” (1968 ).

The story of Carlson’s appearance grows with new myths every year. Swedish critics have repeatedly noted that Astrid based her character on Mr. O'Malley from the comic books of the American Crockett Johnson, popular in the 1940s. In them, a creature with pink dragonfly wings suddenly flies to a boy named Barnaby Baxter before going to bed through the window. looked like a propeller. Mr. O'Malley was about 90 centimeters tall and was a member of the Society of Elves, Leprechauns, Dwarves and Little Men. A half-smoked Havana cigar served as his magic wand.

According to another version, the prototype of Carlson was Mr. Liljonkvast, the angel of death from Astrid Lindgren’s story “In the Twilight Land,” included in the collection “Little Nils Carlson” (1949). Mr. Liljonquast is the Swedish equivalent of Ole Lukøje from Andersen's fairy tale of the same name. In Lindgren's book, he comes to the sick boy Goran and takes him to the Twilight Land, where “nothing matters anymore.” Göran and Liljonkvast fly over the night Stockholm just like a little later Kid and Carlson, but this flight is not fun at all. In addition, Mr. Liljonkvast’s speech is reminiscent of Carlson’s speech (for example, “this has no of the slightest significance" - an analogue of the phrase "trifles, an everyday matter").

Lindgren made no secret of the fact that the Svanteson family had the same address - Vulkanusgatan 12 - as her own family, which moved there in 1929.

Books about Carlson were illustrated by a Swedish artist of Estonian origin, Elon Wikland. In Paris, at the market, she saw a fat man playing the accordion, very reminiscent of the hero of the book: red hair, a checkered shirt, blue trousers with straps. Elon made a sketch and showed it to Astrid. She confirmed: this is exactly what the hero she came up with looks like.

Cover of the book “Three Stories about the Kid and Carlson” by Astrid Lindgren, translated by Lilianna Lungina. Moscow, 1975Publishing House "Children's Literature"

Cover of Astrid Lindgren's book “Karlsson Who Lives on the Roof” translated by Lyudmila Braude. Moscow, 1997Publishing house "Azbuka"

In Russia, “Carlson” owes its popularity to its brilliant translation. Lilianna Lungina, who opened this text to Soviet readers, did not know that Lindgren was already famous all over the world, and in her review of the book she predicted a great future for the author. Thanks to Lungina, the famous expressions “trifles, a matter of everyday life”, “a moderately well-fed man in the prime of life”, “to smoke” and many others came to the people. Its translation is considered canonical. The second translation was made in 1997 by Lyudmila Braude, who wanted to bring “Carlson” closer to the original. Another “s” appeared in Carlson’s surname, as in Swedish, and “housewife” turned into “housewife.” Braude's translation did not catch on due to its dryness and literalism, but the controversy surrounding the two Russian versions of "Carlson" still does not subside.

"Emil of Lönneberga": a book about domestic violence

In the summer of 1962, Astrid Lindgren was trying to calm down her grandson Karl Johan and suddenly asked him a question: “Guess what Emil from Lönneberga did one day?” This is how the idea of ​​a new book about the adventures of a little boy living with his family on the Kathult farm in Småland (where Astrid herself grew up) spontaneously arose. We learn about all of Emil's tricks thanks to his homely mother, who wrote down everything that happened in a blue notebook.

The lively and inquisitive Emil became one of Astrid Lindgren's most beloved heroes. The material for the stories was not only Gunnar's childhood antics, but also her father Samuel August's childhood stories, as well as the phrases of her son, nephew and numerous grandchildren. “The Adventures of Emil from Lönneberg” recreates the image of a carefree childhood in the lap of nature, which, as Astrid Lindgren herself has repeatedly noted in letters and interviews, is so lacking in city children.

Danish researcher Jens Andersen considers the main conflict of the trilogy to be the struggle for power between Emil and his father: “This struggle arises either from the father’s fear that his son will soon outgrow him, or from the son’s indomitable desire to command his father... This struggle flares up when the son shows himself smarter, quicker-witted, more humane and more inventive than his father.” Each time Emil avoids his father's spanking thanks to his mother, who hides him from punishment in the barn.

Astrid Lindgren considered beating children completely unacceptable. In 1978, she was to be awarded the prestigious German Booksellers Peace Prize. In her acceptance speech, the writer wanted to talk about violence and tyranny, primarily about domestic violence from which children suffer. A person who was beaten in childhood is more likely to become a tyrant and will continue to carry this aggression further. To stop wars and initiate serious political changes in the world, it is necessary to start with children. However, the organizers thought that the speech was provocative, and they asked Astrid to tone it down. In response, the writer said that in this case she would not come to the award ceremony at all, after which the committee changed its decision. In 1979, Sweden passed a law prohibiting corporal punishment children.

Astrid Lindgren received thousands of letters from children and adults and tried to answer everyone. In 1971, a 12-year-old girl named Sarah wrote to her. The letter began with the question “Do you want to make me HAPPY?” and became the beginning of a long secret correspondence, which was published in a book entitled “I Keep Your Letters Under the Mattress” several years after the writer’s death. The difference of 50 years did not interfere with this friendship and frank conversation about love, death, rebellion, freedom and God.

After the death of Astrid Lindgren, the Swedish government almost immediately established a memorial award in her name for services to the field children's reading. This is the first largest prize in the world of children's literature after the Nobel Prize: 5 million crowns, that is, about half a million euros.

Images: Astrid Lindgren playing with children. 1971 © Alert / ullstein bild via Getty Images

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  Stockholm, 2002.

• Milles W. In the footsteps of Astrid Lindgren.

  Stockholm, 2007.

• Strömstedt M. Great storyteller. The life of Astrid Lindgren.
• Ljunggren K. Läs om Astrid Lindgren.

  Stockholm, 1992.

• Schwetz K.Översättaren som medförfattare. Översättarens språk och uttryckssätt i den ryska översättningen av Pippi Långstrump.

  Goteborg, 2010.

• Scott S. En bok om Astrid Lindgren.

  Stockholm, 1977.

• Westin B. Children's Literature in Sweden. How is the rating calculated?
  ◊ The rating is calculated based on points awarded over the last week
  ◊ Points are awarded for:
  ⇒ visiting pages dedicated to the star
  ⇒voting for a star
  ⇒ commenting on a star
  

  Biography, life story of Astrid Lindgren

  Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren – Swedish writer.

  Childhood years

  Astrid was born on November 14, 1907 in the small town of Vimmerby (southern Sweden) into a friendly farming family. A year earlier, a boy, Gunnar, was born to Samuel August Eriksson and Hanna Jonsson, who were madly in love with each other. A little later, two more girls appeared in the family - Stina Puka and Ingegerd in 1911 and 1916, respectively.

  As a child, Astrid adored nature - everyone made her happy new dawn, she was surprised at every flower, every leaf of every tree touched her to the depths of her soul. Astrid's father, wanting to entertain his children, often told them different interesting stories, many of which, by the way, subsequently became the basis for the works of the already adult Astrid.

  IN elementary school Astrid was already actively demonstrating her writing abilities. Teachers and classmates sometimes even called her the Selma Lagerlöf of Vämmirbyn (Selma Lagerlöf is a famous Swedish writer, the first woman in world history to be awarded Nobel Prize in the field of literature). Astrid herself, it should be noted, was very flattered to hear something like that addressed to her, but she was firmly convinced that she did not deserve to be compared with such a great writer.

  Early years

  At sixteen, Astrid graduated from school. Immediately after this, she began working as a journalist for a local newspaper called Wimmerby Tidningen. She worked there for two years, rising to the position of junior reporter. True, at the age of eighteen, Astrid had to leave her career as a journalist - the girl became pregnant and was forced to look for a quieter job.

  Personal life

  Already pregnant, Astrid left for Stockholm. There she successfully completed secretarial courses. In December 1926, Astrid gave birth to a boy. She named her son Lars. Alas, Astrid had no money at all to support the child and she had to give the boy to foster family in Denmark. In 1928, Astrid got a job as a secretary at the Royal Automobile Club. At work she met Sture Lindgren. The young people began dating, gradually their sympathy grew into true love. In April 1931, Astrid and Sture got married. Astrid quickly changed her maiden name Eriksson to her husband's last name and was finally able to take Lars with her and give her son a real family.
  

  CONTINUED BELOW

  
  After Astrid got married, she decided to devote herself entirely to her family. In 1934 she gave birth to a daughter, Karin. Astrid devoted all her free time to her husband and children. True, sometimes she did take up the pen, writing little fairy tales for family magazines and writing descriptions of other people's travels.

  Astrid and Sture lived together for many happy years. In 1952, at the age of fifty-four, the head of the family died.

  Writing career

  In 1945, the first book authored by Astrid Lindgren, Pippi Longstocking, was published. A fairy tale with deep meaning became a real explosion in the world of literature. And she appeared completely by accident. In 1941, little Karin fell ill with pneumonia. Astrid sat by her daughter's bedside every evening, telling her different fairy tales, which I composed on the spot. One evening she came up with the idea to tell her daughter about a funny girl who does not obey anyone’s rules and lives as she pleases. After this incident, Astrid began to slowly write about Pippi.

  Astrid's daughter really liked stories about Pippi; she regularly asked her mother to tell her about the funny girl's new adventures. And Astrid talked, inventing stories that simply took Karin’s breath away. On Karin's tenth birthday, Astrid gave her a homemade book about Pippi Longstocking. But smart Astrid made two manuscripts - she sent one of them to the large Stockholm publishing house Bonnier. True, at that time the publishers rejected Astrid, considering that her book was still very raw.

  In 1944, Astrid Lindgren took part in a competition for best book for girls, which was carried out by one small publishing house. Lindgren took second place and signed an agreement with the publisher to publish the story “Britt-Marie Pours Out Her Soul.” A year later she was offered to become an editor of children's literature at the same publishing house. Astrid happily agreed. She worked in this position until 1970, after which she retired. All of Astrid's books were published by her own publishing house.

  Throughout her life, Astrid Lindgren managed to write more than twenty works, among which there is a trilogy beloved by children all over the world about the adventures of Carlson - a cheerful and insanely sweet man in the prime of life who lives on the roof.

  Plays based on Astrid Lindgren's books have been staged more than once, and her novels have often been filmed. Many critics claim that Astrid Lindgren's works will be relevant at all times.

  Social activities

  Astrid Lindgren has always been famous for her kindness. So, despite the fact that she earned more than one million crowns for her literary creations, she spent little on herself. She didn’t know how to save money, but she was always ready to help others. She spoke publicly more than once, calling people to humanism, to mutual respect, to love for all things.

  In the spring of 1985, Astrid Lindgren paid close attention to the fact that on many farms people were mistreating farm animals. Astrid, who at that time was already seventy-eight years old, immediately wrote a fairy tale letter to all major newspapers in Stockholm. In the fairy tale, the writer told how one very cute cow protested against the poor and inhumane treatment of livestock. Thus began a major campaign against cruelty to animals, which lasted for three years. In 1988, the authorities finally adopted the “Lindgren Law” - a law on the protection of animals.

  Astrid Lindgren always advocated pacifism, for kindness towards everything - children, adults, animals, plants... She firmly believed that universal love could save this world from destruction. The writer insisted that parents should not beat their offspring for the purpose of education, that animals should not be treated like pieces of furniture, soulless and insensitive, that people should treat both the poor and the rich with equal respect. The ideal world in the understanding of Astrid Lindgren is a world in which living organisms live in harmony and harmony.

  Death

  Astrid Lindgren died on January twenty-eighth, 2002 in her apartment in Stockholm. She lived a very long (at the time of her death she was already ninety-four years old) and amazing life, giving the world immortal literary masterpieces.

  The body of the great writer is buried in the cemetery in her hometown of Vimmerby.

  Awards and prizes

  In 1958, Astril received a medal

  Perhaps the children's books of the famous storyteller Lindgren would not have been so poignant if young Astrid Erickson had not experienced separation from her newborn son, who was born out of wedlock. The writer hid these details for a long time for the sake of her first-born Lars, and only now they are published full biography Astrid Lindgren, shedding light on the events of 90 years ago.

  Astrid Erickson, early 1920s. (Photo: Private archive / Saltkrå kan)

  In Sweden in the 1920s, journalists did not have to receive higher education. Training took place in the editorial offices themselves: it was generally accepted that a person was either born for this work or not.

  The fact that Astrid Erikson got a job at Vimmerby Publishing at the age of 15 was due to the editor-in-chief and owner of the newspaper, Reinhold Blumberg. A few years earlier, he had the opportunity to become convinced of the girl’s outstanding literary abilities. Astrid attended school with Bloomberg's children, and one day, in August or September 1921, teacher Tengström showed Bloomberg an extraordinary essay written by thirteen-year-old Astrid Erikson.

  Editor Bloomberg has not forgotten either the essay or the author. More than a year later, in the summer of 1923, having passed the exam at a real school, Astrid Erikson became an intern at Vimmerby Tidning. A monthly salary of sixty crowns was then the usual payment for interns in Sweden - for this money they not only wrote obituaries, small notes and reviews, but also sat on the phone, kept journals, read proofs and ran into the city on errands.

  Astrid's first man

  A seemingly promising career as a journalist ended abruptly in August 1926, when it became impossible to hide the fact that the Vimmerby Tidning trainee was pregnant. The father of the child was neither a former classmate, nor a young peasant, nor a business traveler, oh no. The father was the owner and editor-in-chief of Vimmerby Publishing, nearly fifty-year-old Reinhold Blumberg, married for the second time after the death of his first wife in 1919, leaving him with seven children.

  
  Reinhold Blumberg (1877–1947), owner and editor of Vimmerby Publishing from 1913 to 1939 and father of Astrid Lindgren's first child. (Photo: Private archive)

  And this enterprising and influential man in 1925 he fell in love with a seventeen-year-old trainee and began to beautifully court her. Astrid had only read about this in books. The girl did not reject the admirer and entered into a love affair with him, which, for obvious reasons, was kept secret and lasted more than six months, until Astrid became pregnant in March 1926.

  She herself was more likely to be amazed by such an extraordinary interest in her “soul and body,” as Reinhold wrote to her, than to be in love. But there was something unknown, dangerous and therefore attractive in this relationship, Astrid Lindgren said in 1993: “Girls are such fools. No one had seriously fallen in love with me until then, he was the first. And of course, it seemed fascinating to me.”

  It also broke every taboo. Not only because of Astrid Erickson's complete inexperience and naivety in the sexual field, but also because Reinhold Blumberg was a married man in the process. In addition, the editor-in-chief of Vimmerby Tidning and the respected tenants, the Eriksons, Astrid's parents, were not just acquaintances, but also worked together on several occasions.

  “I wanted a child, but not his father.”

  The exact circumstances of Astrid's affair with her boss, who at that time no longer lived with his wife Olivia Bloomberg, are unknown. During Astrid Lindgren's lifetime, the general public never learned the name of the child's father. Astrid wanted to keep the secret as long as possible. First of all, for Lasse's sake. “I knew what I wanted and what I didn’t want. I wanted a child, but not his father.”

  Astrid Lindgren's own complete and accurate interpretation of the events of 1926 was never published, but was thoroughly retold by her biographer Margareta Strömstedt in the book "The Great Storyteller. The Life of Astrid Lindgren", published in 1977 on the occasion of the writer's seventieth birthday. Before that, for thirty years, it seemed as if the girl had come to Stockholm to study, where a few years later she met Sture Lindgren, whom she married, after which she gave birth to two children, Lasse and Karin.

  However, everything was not so simple. Astrid was much more confused about her relationship with Reinhold than she later admitted. Bloomberg, for his part, was still in love and in 1927 paid for their joint trip to see the baby. Only in March 1928, Astrid finally made up her mind and abandoned her relationship with Lasse’s father, saying that their paths would now diverge forever.

  
  Storgatan 30, Vimmerby. This is where Bloomberg's editor-in-chief lives with his family and where his newspaper's editorial office was located in the 1920s. Around the corner is a printing house where a newspaper is printed every Wednesday and Saturday. (Photo: East Gotland Regional Museum)

  From the very beginning of the relationship, Reinhold wanted to completely own Astrid, which she categorically did not like. After she moved to Stockholm in September 1926, he reproached her for studying to become a secretary without consulting him. Astrid’s deliberately superficial letters disappointed the demanding romantic from Vimmerby, who had drawn up a plan for their future together (he was only hampered by a protracted divorce) and did not tolerate interruptions: “You write so little about yourself. Isn’t it clear that I want to know much, much more about you? ".

  How could you?

  What Astrid found in Reinhold, besides the fact that he was her first man and the father of her unborn child, not only her mother Hannah, but also Lindgren herself asked herself in her old age. “Neither to myself nor to Hannah could I answer the question “how could you?” But when could these young, inexperienced, naive fools answer it? How is it in this story of Sigurd about the frivolous Lena? I read about her in my early youth Not a beauty at all, the writer assured, she “was still in demand on the market of desire.” I read and thought with some envy: “Oh, if only I could be like her!” Well, I succeeded, though. I didn’t foresee it."

  Behind this quote hid not only the awareness of his actions and a feeling of guilt, but also the accumulated resentment towards a more experienced man, who perfectly understood the risk that he himself and especially his young lover were exposed to without taking advantage of it. She later angrily reprimanded the elderly Reinhold Blumberg in a letter dated February 22, 1943: “I had not the slightest idea about contraception, and therefore could not understand the extent of your monstrous irresponsibility towards me.”

  The explanation for such ignorance is to be found in the puritanism that still dominated government policy in the 1920s. By law, Sweden prohibited any advertising or public mention of contraceptives, which anyone could buy provided they had information about their existence. That's why only a few Swedes - especially in the provinces - understood how to avoid unwanted pregnancies.

  
  Eighteen-year-old Astrid Eriksson in the fall of 1926 (Photo: Private archive / Saltkrå kan)

  Astrid Lindgren paid a high price for her affair with Bloomberg. She lost her job and the prospect of later finding a position in a larger newspaper than Vimmerby Publishing. And in the fall of 1926, when the pregnancy became difficult to hide, Astrid had to leave her home and city and go to Stockholm. Lindgren described parting with Vimmerby as a joyful escape: “Being the object of gossip is like sitting in a pit with snakes, and I decided to leave this pit as soon as possible. And no matter what anyone thinks, from home I am like in the old days.” good times, did not drive away. Not at all! I kicked myself out."

  Where to secretly give birth to an unmarried woman

  Astrid enrolled in shorthand and typing courses and one day accidentally read about a certain female lawyer in the capital helping unmarried pregnant women in difficult circumstances. Astrid found Eva Anden and told not only about her own sad situation, but also about her secret engagement to Reinhold and about the divorce proceedings, which increasingly influenced the situation with childbirth (Bloomberg’s wife tried her best to collect evidence of her husband’s infidelity and was already very successful in this) .

  The lawyer advised the girl to go to Copenhagen and give birth in the Royal Hospital - the only one in Scandinavia where the names of the child's parents could be kept secret and from where information was not sent to the Population Registration Department or others government bodies. Eva Anden also recommended that Astrid leave the child in the Danish capital with a foster mother until she and Reinhold could take him to Sweden. The lawyer contacted Marie Stevens, a smart and caring woman who, along with her teenage son Karl, helped Swedish mothers before and after childbirth.

  
  Eva Andén (1886–1970) – Sweden's first female lawyer. In 1915 she founded her own law firm. (Photo: Eric Holman/TT)

  It was Karl who took Astrid to the Royal Hospital in a taxi when the contractions began. Three years later, on January 10, 1930, the same calm, reliable Karl took three-year-old Lasse by train to Stockholm, to “Mama Lasse,” as he and Fru Stevens consistently and unobtrusively called Astrid at home.

  After Lars was born

  The boy was born on December 4 at ten o'clock in the morning, and a few days after the birth, Astrid, with little Lars Blumberg in her arms, returned to Fr. Stevens and did not part with him until December 23. On the eve of 1926, Astrid said goodbye to her child, Aunt Stevens and Karl. Her path lay home to Näs, and then north to Stockholm.

  The adoptive mother remembered this scene well. Never before had Marie Stevens met a woman who, having given birth in such circumstances, was so happy about her child. Many years later, in 1950, when the boy grew up and he himself had a son, the old foster mother from Copenhagen sent Astrid a letter, where, among other things, she wrote: “You fell in love with your baby from the first moment.”

  
  Villa Stevns is 5–6 km from the center of Copenhagen. There, on the second floor, Lasse spent the first three years of his life. (Photo: Private archive)

  In January 1927, Astrid continued to study at the Bar-lok school, where they taught typing, accounting, bookkeeping, shorthand and business correspondence. In photographs from those years, Astrid Erickson is most often sad and unhappy. The piercing happiness and euphoria that came after a successful birth gave way to despondency, pain and regret.

  She had a room in the boarding house, a steel bed, clothes and, as a rule, enough food, which she owed in no small part to parcels from home: about once every month and a half a basket full of supplies from Hannah's pantry arrived. For this, the eldest daughter immediately thanked her in letters: “What a luxury - to cut yourself a decent piece of bread, spread it with first-class Wimmerby butter and put a piece of mother’s cheese on top, and then eat it all. I experience this pleasure every morning, while there is still something in the basket - then it remains."

  Melancholy, pessimism and occasional thoughts of suicide made themselves felt most strongly when Astrid was alone in the big city on long Sunday afternoons. Incessant thoughts about Lassa drove her out into the street early in the morning, and everything that on other days was repressed and drowned in numerous worries surfaced from the subconscious.

  And on weekdays, a disappointed twenty-year-old mother without a child became an energetic, sociable Miss Erikson, who knew how to get along with everyone around her. She typed touch-type, sliding her fingers across the keyboard without looking, took good shorthand and was not afraid of correspondence in English and German. All these skills later came in handy for Astrid Lindgren - a writer, editor, and, for family and friends, a diligent correspondent.

  Work in Stockholm and trips to Copenhagen to visit my son

  At her first job, where Astrid entered in 1927, she was supposed to pick up the phone and say: “Radio Department of the Swedish Book Trade Centre!” - listen and apologize. She had to accept complaints from dissatisfied customers who were unable to tune in their new radio - the latest technology.

  During the interview, the head of the office made it clear that after the departure of the previous employee, he no longer needed nineteen-year-olds, but Astrid Erickson did what she always knew how to do perfectly: she sold herself. She turned on charm, humor, energy and convinced the employer that she could be relied upon, even though she was only nineteen.

  “I was paid 150 crowns a month. You won’t get fat from that. And you can’t really go to Copenhagen, and most of all I wanted to go there. But sometimes, with the help of savings, loans and mortgages, I managed to scrape together money for a ticket.”

  Astrid Eriksson's old passport, with numerous blue and red stamps, shows that Lars Blumberg's mother traveled from Stockholm to Copenhagen and back twelve to fifteen times over three years. She often took the cheapest overnight train, leaving on Friday; a round-trip ticket cost 50 crowns, and you had to sit all night. In the morning she arrived at Copenhagen Central Station, jumped on the tram and entered the gate of Villa Stevns before noon. There was only a day left for almost continuous communication with Lasse: in order to go to work in Stockholm on Monday morning, Astrid had to leave Copenhagen early on Sunday evening.

  Twenty-four or twenty-five hours of communication, first every second, and then every third to fifth month for three years - it seems like not much, but in the ocean of melancholy these single trips were precious drops. In those years, Astrid could not be a real mother for Lasse, but thanks to trips to Copenhagen, the boy developed the image of a “mother” - a process that Aunt Stevens and Karl tried to stimulate. Out of their kindness, they described in detail Lasse's health condition, his speech and motor development, and daily active games.

  To be continued.

  
  Carlson, Pippi Longstocking, Mio... This writer became the literary mother of heroes who are loved by children and adults all over the world. Astrid Lindgren also had two real, living children - a son and a daughter. In life she was as talented a mother as she was a storyteller in literature.

  Astrid Anna Emilia Eriksson was born in November 1907 in Sweden, on the Nes farm. The future storyteller's childhood was full of closeness to nature, which contributed to the spiritual openness and development of the young Swede's creativity.

  " IN parental home Astrid, her brother and sisters lived in an atmosphere of love and harmony.

  Astrid's parents met at the market when her mother was 7 and her father 13 years old. Children's friendship grew into sympathy, and later into love. Samuel August and Hannah had four children: the first-born son Gunnar and three daughters, the eldest of whom was Astrid. The children helped their parents with housework, and in their free time rushed around the outskirts of the farm in search of adventure. As Astrid later recalled, adults did not hesitate to show warm feelings towards each other and children, which was rare in peasant families.

  
  On the farm, children were often told folk tales and legends. And the girl first heard the “book” fairy tale at a friend’s house. Her mother read it to her children in the kitchen. The girl liked it so much that, immersed in magical world, it took her a long time to return to reality.

  “Soon Lindgren learned to read and write, and reading became her favorite pastime forever.

  And already in the elementary grades of school, the future writer demonstrated literary abilities.
  After graduating from school, Astrid got a job as a junior reporter at a local publication. Soon she began to live separately from her parents, fell in love with jazz, she liked modern dance, she even got her hair short. At the same time, she had her first romance, a very tragic one. Her lover, editor of Vimmerby magazine Reinhold Blumberg, was 30 years older than the girl and married, although he was in the process of divorce. An enterprising and influential man in 1925 fell in love with a seventeen-year-old trainee and began to beautifully court her. Astrid had only read about this in books. But she herself was more likely to be amazed by such an extraordinary interest in her “soul and body,” as Reinhold wrote to her, than to be in love. There was something unknown, dangerous and all the more attractive about this relationship, as Astrid Lindgren said in 1993:

  “Girls are such fools. No one had seriously fallen in love with me until then, he was the first. And of course, it seemed fascinating to me.”

  An 18-year-old journalist became pregnant. And if everyone knew that Bloomberg had cheated on his wife, his bank account would be empty. Therefore, pregnant Astrid left for Denmark. In the country neighboring Sweden at that time, it was allowed to keep the name of the biological father a secret, so the young woman gave birth to a boy, Lars, in Copenhagen. Shortly before giving birth, Astrid met lawyer Eva Anden, from whom she received some practical advice. She also introduced her to the family of Marie Stevens, a smart and caring woman who, together with her teenage son Karl, helped Swedish mothers before and after childbirth.

  " Astrid came to the Stevens family with her newborn son and stayed with him there until Christmas 1926. And then she was forced to leave in order to work, leaving her son in the care of a foster family.

  The scene of departure was well remembered by the adoptive mother. Never before had Marie Stevens met a woman who, having given birth in such circumstances, was so happy about her child. Many years later, in 1950, when the boy had grown up and he himself had already had a son, the old adoptive mother from Copenhagen sent Astrid a letter, where, among other things, she wrote: “You loved your baby from the first moment.”
  In January 1927, Astrid continued to study at the Bar-lok school in Stockholm, where they taught typing, accounting, bookkeeping, shorthand and business correspondence. After finishing it, she went to work. In photographs from those years, Astrid Erickson is most often sad and unhappy. She missed her son very much. She tried to visit her boy whenever possible:

  “I was paid 150 crowns a month. You won’t get fat from that. And you can’t really go to Copenhagen, and most of all I wanted to go there. But sometimes, with the help of savings, loans and mortgages, I managed to scrape together money for a ticket.”

  Twenty-four or twenty-five hours of communication, first every second, and then every third to fifth month for three years - that's all Astrid could afford. In those years, she could not be a real mother for Lasse, but thanks to rare trips to Copenhagen, the boy developed the image of a “mother” - a process that Aunt Stevens and Karl tried to stimulate. Lars was raised by his adoptive parents, the Stevensons, until he was 5 years old.
  
  

  Perhaps the children's books of the famous storyteller Lindgren would not have been so poignant if young Astrid Erickson had not experienced separation from her newborn son. The writer hid these details for a long time for the sake of her first-born Lars, and only now a full biography of Astrid Lindgren has been published, shedding light on the events of 90 years ago.
  In Stockholm, Astrid met Nils Sture Lindgren, director of the Royal Automobile Club. In 1928, he took her as secretary. And two years later he proposed to Astrid:

  “He admitted that he fell in love with me at first sight and did not take his eyes off me all these two years,” the writer later recalled. “I told him everything about myself and, of course, about my son. He didn’t hesitate for a second: “I love you, which means I love everything that is part of your life.” Lars will be our son, take him to Stockholm."

  
  After the wedding in 1931, Lindgren took her son, and 3 years later gave birth to a daughter, Karin. Nils adopted Lars and gave him his last name. The couple lived in a happy marriage for 21 years.
  Astrid Lindgren was a very unusual, as they would say now, non-standard mother: while other ladies were having decorous conversations, sitting on benches and watching children playing, she took part in the entertainment of her kids and even climbed trees with them.

  "The children were always proud of their hooligan mother, who gladly took part in all the games. And one day, in front of their eyes, she jumped onto a tram at full speed (for which she was fined by the conductor).

  

  Astrid's daughter, Karin, in an interview, when asked about her mother, said:

  “Astrid loved children very much, loved being with children. And we, her own children, felt very good about this, she really loved working with us!.. On the other hand, she made certain demands on us. But they were not rigid, and it was not difficult for us to comply with them. Astrid was not a strict mother!..”

  The happy and calm childhood of the son and daughter of the famous storyteller allowed them to grow into successful and harmonious people. Lars was very technically capable and became a good engineer. He died before his mother, and Astrid grieved the loss of her son.
  Karin, having matured, became a translator. According to the writer's will, she must monitor the publications and translations of her fairy tales. IN family society“Saltkrokan” includes Karin herself, her husband, son, daughter and granddaughter. They deal, among other things, with the issue of brands. Karin is a kind of guarantor of the preservation of Astrid Lindgren's legacy.
  
  

  The writer, who gave children the amazingly charming character Carlson and the cute extravagant Pippi Longstocking, became dear to all the children of the world. It's hard to find a family where they haven't read Astrid Lindgren's kind and fascinating books. The Swedish writer, like no one else, unraveled the child's soul and found a path to it. In simple words she outlined the main problems and fears of little people, reminding adults of what they once knew but forgot.

  Childhood and youth

  Astrid Anna Emilia Eriksson, that's what it sounds like full name writer before marriage, born in November 1907 in Sweden, on the Nes farm. The future writer spent his childhood years on the farm estate. Closeness to nature, the measured age of “horse and convertible” contributed to the spiritual openness and development of creativity of the young Swede.

  Love and harmony reigned in the Ericsson house. Astrid's parents met at the market when her mother was 7 and her father 13 years old. Children's friendship grew into sympathy, and later into love. Samuel August and Hannah had four children: the first-born son Gunnar and three daughters, the eldest of whom was Astrid Anna Emilia.

  
  Astrid Lindgren with her parents, brother and sisters

  The children were surrounded by peasant life and pristine nature. The children helped their parents with housework, and in their free time rushed around the outskirts of the farm in search of adventure. In the family, according to Astrid Lindgren, a surprisingly kind atmosphere reigned: adults did not hesitate to show warm feelings towards each other and children, which was rare in peasant families.

  
  

  Little Astrid Lindgren loved listening to folklore - stories and legends that were often told to children on the farm. Astrid, who had not yet learned to read, first heard a “book” fairy tale at a friend’s house. Her mother read it to her children in the kitchen. The impressionable girl listened, plunged into the magical world and took a long time to return to reality. Soon Lindgren learned to read and write, and reading became her favorite pastime forever. Already in elementary school, the future writer demonstrated literary abilities, for which she was jokingly called Selma Lagerlöf (the first Nobel laureate according to literature).

  
  

  After graduating from high school, the 16-year-old girl got a job as a junior reporter at a local periodical. 2 years later, pregnant by a married man, Lindgren left Vimmerblue and went to the capital, wanting to get lost in a city of millions where no one knew her. In Stockholm, Astrid Lindgren trained as a secretary and worked at the Royal Automobile Club before the birth of her child.

  Literature

  After 5 years, Astrid Lindgren, now a married lady, became a housewife. In 1941, the family, which now had two children growing up, settled in an apartment in Stockholm, from the windows of which the picturesque Vasa Park was visible. This is where the woman wrote all her works. At first, Astrid Lindgren sharpened her pen while working as a secretary. Then she became interested in writing short fairy tales and short guides for family and children's magazines.

  
  

  According to the storyteller, the first character in the children's adventure story was born thanks to little Karin. The daughter, who was ill with pneumonia and accustomed to her mother's bedtime stories, asked Astrid to tell the story about Pippi Longstocking. The girl made up the name of the character. Lindgren fulfilled the baby's wish and composed a fairy tale. Her daughter liked it so much that her mother extended the continuation to dozens of other evenings.

  At this time, Astrid Lindgren's thoughts were occupied by heated discussions about raising the younger generation. One part of society advocated respect for the child’s personality and the necessary freedom of action, the second – for classical, puritanical education and restriction of freedom. Astrid was on the side of the “liberals” in pedagogy, which dictated the character of her Pippi.

  
  

  Each subsequent short story about a freedom-loving red-haired madwoman in multi-colored stockings demanded a continuation. Over the course of five years, the short stories “grew” into a novel. When Astrid Lindgren's daughter turned 10, her mother gave her an anniversary gift: she illustrated a manuscript of several stories about Pippi and turned it into a book.

  Lindgren took the handwritten duplicate with the adventures of the red-haired daredevil to the large Swedish publishing house Bonnierkoncernen. But the publisher was in no hurry to publish a book that went beyond the usual boundaries of children's literature. After thinking, Bonierconcern returned the manuscript to Astrid. The writer was depressed, but did not give up: she saw the impression the stories about Pippi made on her daughter, and she knew for sure that she would continue to write for children.

  
  

  In 1944, a Swedish writer heard about a competition held by the newly founded publishing house Raben and Sjögren. The authors were given the task of writing a book for girls. Three best essays The publishers promised to publish it. Astrid Lindgren presented the story “Britt-Marie pours out her soul” to the jury and took second place. This is how her creative biography began.

  The following year, Raben and Sjogren invited Astrid to work. Lindgren gladly took the chair of editor of children's literature and worked in this position until 1970, leaving it upon reaching retirement age.

  
  

  In the same happy year for the writer, 1945, Raben and Sjögren published the first book about Pippi - “Pippi Settles in the Chicken Villa.” The young Swedes liked the story so much that it was immediately sold out. Soon the work was translated into dozens of languages ​​and sold millions of copies around the world. In 1946 and 1948, children's audiences waited for continuations of the story.

  In 1946, Astrid Lindgren gave young readers a story about the adventures of detective Kalle Blumkvist. In 1951, children read the second part of Kalle’s adventures, and 2 years later the final part of the trilogy, called “Kalle Blumkvist and Rasmus,” was published. Having invented a good detective, Lindgren offered an alternative to the thrillers that had become fashionable, to which the younger generation was also drawn.

  In the mid-1950s, Astrid Lindgren presented readers with the first part of the trilogy “Mio, my Mio!” This is a fabulous and sad story about a boy who was left without parental warmth. There were many orphaned children after the war, and Astrid’s mother’s heart was concerned about their fate. With her writing, she gave such children hope and consolation, helped them cope with difficulties and instill faith in a happy tomorrow.

  A year later, in 1955, the first book of the trilogy appeared about the “moderately well-fed” attic tenant Carlson and the sad Kid, a boy from an ordinary family, whom his busy parents cannot get around to. An infantile sweet lover with a propeller on his back flies in to entertain and console the Baby.

  
  Illustration for Astrid Lindgren's fairy tale "The Kid and Carlson"

  The book was a resounding success, comparable to the adventures of Pippi. In 1962, the second part of the trilogy was released, and 6 years later the third. The translation of the fairy tale story about the Kid and Carlson for Russian readers was done by Lilianna Lungina. The first part appeared 2 years after publication in Sweden, the third - in 1974.

  From 1963 to 1986, Astrid Lindgren wrote a series of 6 books for children about the little tomboy, stubborn and resourceful Emil Svenson. The 6-year-old prankster regularly gets into trouble, but he is incredibly smart and often suggests unexpected decisions to his father in the household and business.

  
  

  Another bright work by Lindgren, beloved by millions of children, is the fantasy fairy tale “Roni, the Robber’s Daughter”, which appeared in the early 1980s. This is an instructive and good story about children's wisdom that adults should learn from. Roni is the daughter of Ataman Mattis, who is at odds with and competes with the robber Borka, whose son Birk is growing up. The offspring of sworn enemies develop sympathy and become friends. And when their warring parents forbid them to be friends, they run away from them into the forest.

  The works of the Swedish storyteller have been filmed dozens of times and staged on theatrical stages in Europe, America and Asia. The story about Blumkvist appeared on screens for the first time: the film premiered in 1947 during the Christmas holidays. Two years later, little TV viewers saw a film adaptation of Pippi’s adventures.

  In the Soviet Union, Astrid Lindgren's work was widely known and loved. In 1976, the children of the USSR saw on the screens the film “The Adventures of Calle the Detective”, in 1978 – the film “Rasmus the Tramp”, 6 years later – “Pippi Longstocking” and “The Tricks of a Tomboy”. Cartoons about Carlson were released in 1968 and 1970.

  Astrid Lindgren was showered with all sorts of awards during her lifetime. In 1958, she was awarded a medal, which is equivalent to the Nobel Prize in children's literature.

  Personal life

  Astrid Lindgren's first love turned out to be unhappy. Her lover, editor of Vimmerby magazine Axel Blumberg, was married. An 18-year-old journalist became pregnant by a man 30 years older when he was getting a divorce. And if at the trial they found out that Bloomberg had cheated on his wife Olivia, his bank account would be empty. Therefore, pregnant Astrid left the city.

  
  

  In Denmark, it was allowed to keep the name of the biological father a secret, so the young woman gave birth to a boy, Lars, in Copenhagen. Until the age of 5, Lars was raised in the family of adoptive parents, the Stevensons.

  
  

  In Stockholm, Astrid met Nils Sture Lindgren. After the wedding in 1931, Lindgren took her son, and 3 years later gave birth to a daughter, Karin. Nils adopted Lars and gave him his last name. The couple lived in a happy marriage for 21 years.

  Death

  In 1952, the writer's husband died. In 1961, my mother passed away, and 8 years later my father passed away. 1974 turned out to be tragic for Astrid: her brother and childhood friends left forever. And real grief befell the woman in 1986, when her son died.

  
  

  Lindgren often thought about the mystery of leaving for another world, but, unlike her Lutheran parents, who believed in eternal life, Astrid was a supporter of agnosticism. Astrid Lindgren died in January 2002 at the ripe old age of 94.

  Memory

  • In the year of Astrid Lindgren's death, the Swedish government established a prize in memory of the famous writer in the amount of 5 million crowns, which is awarded every year to the best children's writer. In 2016, it was awarded to Briton Meg Rosoff.
  • In the spring of 2015, the Swedish bank released a new series of 20-krona banknotes, which feature Astrid Lindgren.
  
  
  • The Swedes carefully protect the apartment in Stockholm where the famous writer lived and died for 60 years. The home became a museum in the winter of 2015, when Sweden celebrated Astrid Lindgren's 108th birthday.
  • The apartment-museum contains a souvenir dish, which was presented to Astrid in 1997.

  Bibliography

  • 1945 – “Pippi moves into the villa “Chicken””
  • 1946 – “Pippi hits the road”
  • 1948 – “Pippi in the Land of Merry”
  • 1946 – “The famous detective Kalle Blumkvist”
  • 1951 – “The famous detective Kalle Blumkvist takes risks”
  • 1953 – “Kalle Blumkvist and Rasmus”
  • 1947 – “We are all from Bullerby”
  • 1949 – “Again about the children from Bullerby”
  • 1955 – “The Kid and Carlson, who lives on the roof”
  • 1962 – “Carlson, who lives on the roof, has arrived again”
  • 1968 – “Carlson, who lives on the roof, plays pranks again”
  • 1963 – “Emil from Lenneberga”
  • 1966 – “New tricks of Emil from Lenneberga”
  • 1954 – “Mio, my Mio”
  • 1981 – “Roni, the daughter of a robber”