Barbro Lindgren-Enskog

Impulse grab at the library, because I've loved so many books from Sweden, and look at those good Swedish names, Lindgren and Landstrom. ?áAnd look at the expression on the little pig's face on the cover. ?áWell, I gotta tell you, the book exceeded my expectations. ?á

Benny is so authentic, even though he's naughty and is causing mom all that extra work, I was rooting for the child instead of the patient but put-upon mom, or the less patient other adults. ?áI was particularly show more impressed by the page that let us see into the windows of all the cabins (cottages, I would have translated) to see all the pigs absorbed in their computers. ?áAnd the dog, who uses his cell phone to call his wife to see if he can bring Benny home to live with them, is so funny. ?áAnd the ending is satisfying to both kids and parents. show less

Barbro is the other Lindgren in Swedish literature for children. Less known abroad, she’s very much a household name here. Everybody has read or seen an adaptation of her books about Loranga, Masarin and Dartanjang – a wild anarchistic romp that makes Pippi Longstocking seem stuck up. For Barbro Lindgren is a wilder, more chaotic, playful writer, and her books have a unpredictable danger about them. You’re never quite sure about her characters, you never quite trust them. But you’re show more likely to love hanging with them.

The three books about the Land of Barnhans, inhabited by decaying stuffed animals and other toys, some pinecones, a cork and an annoying marble, are I think Barbro’s last books for children. They were written in the mid-eighties, well after I was the target group. So this is my first encounter with this existential world of mayhem.

It’s really all episodes. It deals with Röden and Farbrornallen creating of a club to discuss the meaning of life, of Mack the rubber monkey's speed devil club, about a day when everybody got lost, about the urge to bury things and/or friends, about an epic fail in staging the play Nök-Hamlet and about the one-line poetry of an über-sentimental Russian rat. And at the same time, it’s a irreverent but gentle meditation of death and existence. Think Winne the Pooh meets Krazy Kat and you might get an idea. Good stuff! show less

Barnhans Land is very much a version of the Seven Acre Woods. Here a group of stuffed animals and other discarded pieces of trash are experiencing adventures on a very small scale. The storytelling is episodic, and, like with Pooh, the atmosphere is gently existential. Barnhans Land is a more crazy place though, and just a little darker, more anarchistic and unpredictable. Barnhans himself is a more despotic ruler than Christopher Robin, with his interest in burying things in the sand show more (especially poor Nöken), and his newly developed urges to create lakes and mountains. But mostly, things are the same in this little world. The Bisam Rat is struggling with his poetry. Mack the rubber monkey starts a noisy rockband to the horror of Farbrornallen. And the Cork is coming back again, crazy and megalomaniac as ever.

One important difference between Pooh’s world and this, though, and perhaps it’s main strength, is the presence of death. Ellen the elephant is hanging in her tree, slowly losing her stuffing. And with the arrival of the cute little Pricknallen, both Röden the dog and Farbrornallen, both elderly gentlemen, are reminded of their mortality. There’s a lot to love here (and Elis, our boy, does).But there is also something just a little static, and a few times I wish things would get stronger consequences. Nevertheless, this is a pretty original take on the anthropomorphic philosophical child tale, and I’ll look forward to read the concluding part. show less

A bizarre and wonderful Scandinavian story of a toddler who travels the sea with his stuffed animal friends come to life. The book takes the reader through the mad who world of Baby Ben, who is imagining a dark and scary adventure on the open seas while his mother cleans the house around him. A charming rhyming story, with odd and sometimes creepy twists and turns, only to resolve itself in the comfort of Baby Bens living room. One of my childhood favorites!