Lotta räckte ut tungan åt det gula huset, där Nymans bodde. "Men jag ska aldrig bo där mer, haha, för jag ska bo här hela mitt liv."

Hon är ju bra tossig, den där Lotta. Men hon är också helt fantastisk. ( )

Match found in the German National Library.

Originally published in Swedish as Lotta på Bråkmakargatan, this endearing chapter-book from the author of such childhood classics as Pippi Longstocking and The Brothers Lionheart offers the young reader a sensitive portrayal of a five-year-old's difficult day.

Lotta wakes up one morning in a terrible mood, having dreamt that her older brother and sister were beating up on her beloved toy pig, Bamsie. Things progress from bad to worse when Mother won't let Lotta wear her Sunday dress, but instead insists that she wear a sweater that "tickles and scratches." Destroying the sweater in a fit of anger, Lotta decides to move out, proceeding next door to Mrs. Berg's house, where she takes up residence in an old shed. Will Lotta ever move back in with her own family, the Nymans...?

Lotta on Troublemaker Street was highly recommended by my friend Manny, whose own online review is a glowing homage to the humanity of Swedish parenting practices. I too was impressed with the way in which Lotta's mother and father handle her defection, not to mention Mrs. Berg's calm acceptance of her presence. Their respect for her feelings, the fact that they never try to coerce her into doing as they think best, but let her decide to come home on her own, struck me as quite wise. Of course, it's not as if she were in any real danger...

But as appealing as this book may be to the adult reader, it is also an entertaining story that young readers will take to heart. Who has not experienced, as a young child, that sense of overwhelming anger, sometimes for no good reason at all? In Lotta, children will recognize an important aspect of their own emotional experience, depicted with compassion. Not surprisingly, given that it was written by Lindgren, this is a little gem! I think I will need to hunt up the sequel, The Children on Troublemaker Street! ( )

This is the great book to pull students from picture books. The book talks about Lotta, who thinks her older brother and sister are messing with her favorite stuffed animal. She is the baby and always wants to get her way. He mom makes her do things she does not want to do. She decides to run away one day and moves into the neighbor's garage loft. The ending is very nice though.