Our visit to the circus made me think of some other children who went to the circus: namely, Tommy, Annika and Pippi Longstocking. While we were content to watch and perhaps dream of doing what we saw, Pippi jumped right in, riding behind the horseback rider, walking the tightrope and even besting the “World’s Strongest Man” at wrestling, to the consternation of the ringmaster and the delight of the audience.

This, I think, is the great appeal of Astrid Lindgren’s little red-haired girl, that she does what ordinary children can only imagine. With her mother dead and her father lost at sea, she lives alone but for her monkey and horse. There is no one to tell her when to go to bed or what to eat, no adult to caution or reprimand her. Her house is filled with treasures from far off lands, and she keeps a suitcase filled with gold under her bed. She is saucy and brave where her friends are polite and mild mannered, she’s stronger than any policeman in the world, and she can always get the better of teachers, busybodies and bullies.

My eldest son, after hearing one of her exploits, said, “I wish Pippi lived on our street.” She is indeed a delightful companion, and her stories (for children 7 to 10) continue to please after half a century in print.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 28th, 2005 at 10:42 pm and is filed under Miscellany, Books. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.