Although this is a chapter book, it has just enough illustrations to hold the interest of a child who can’t sit through a story that is purely text. The chapter length was just exactly right for bedtime reading over the course of several days. My five-year-old, despite having recently come home from school with the ridiculous notion that books about girls are for girls only, was completely in thrall to “the strongest girl in the world.” (And we have now disabused him of THAT notion.)
Pippi is every child’s literal-minded streak and extreme impulsiveness taken to the furthest extreme of your imagination. She gets the best of burglars and the police, participates in the circus, bakes cookies on the kitchen floor, and lives alone with a monkey and a horse for company. No one is ever bored when Pippi is around. Although Pippi is an orphan, the loss of her father is treated very lightly, unlike, for instance, Heidi, which opens with a heavy-handed list of all the people who had to die to leave poor Heidi all alone in the world. Pippi’s father, on the other hand, was lost at sea, and Pippi is of the optimistic opinion that he is king of an undiscovered island somewhere and will come back for her… someday.
Even sensitive children will enjoy the madcap adventures of Pippi and her friends, since although it is probably above the reading level of a preschooler or Kindergartener, the themes and language are not inappropriately adult for them. Penguin recommends this translation for ages 8 and up.
Great suggestion! We are reading Junie B Jones right now – my girls are in LOVE with Junie’s shenanigans!