Pippi Longstocking
by Astrid Lindgren
Classics, Fiction, Middle-Grade, Young-Adult, Fantasy, Humor
Tommy and his sister Annika have a new neighbor, and her name is Pippi Longstocking. She has crazy red pigtails, no parents to tell her what to do, a horse that lives on her porch, and a flair for the outrageous that seems to lead to one adventure after another! Oh, and Pippi happens to be the strongest girl in the world.
Recommendations from Common Sense Media
Age Recommendation: 7+
What Parents Need to Know:
Parents need to know that Swedish author Astrid Lindgren’s novel Pippi Longstocking (first published in Sweden in 1945), has been a middle-grade favorite for generations. Lindgren also wrote two sequels to this original book and broke parts out into storybooks for younger readers. Pippi is without parents: Her mother is dead, and her father disappeared at sea. She believes he landed on a South Seas island and rules it as “the Cannibal King.” (Later editions changed this to “King of the Natives.”) Young Pippi — along with her pet monkey and horse — lives in a ramshackle house, where she likes to make treats for her friends. Pippi has superhuman strength, bad manners (gasp!), a good deal of weaponry, and piles of gold. She tells tall tales about her family and her own adventures as well. Readers will need to check their disbelief at the door to Villa Vilkakulla and appreciate Pippi for the fun-loving thing-finder she is. Pippi brandishes pistols and a sword in a couple of scenes, and fires the guns once (at the ceiling). Her worst transgression is wolfing down the entire pie at a dignified coffee party. Note: The trilogy has been been called out for dated, colonialist, racist stereotyping of indigenous peoples. But the author has said she intended to show how inaccurate those stereotypes are, and in the second and third book, when Pippi goes to the South Seas, she shows Pippi gladly playing with indigenous kids.
Educational Value: 1/5
If readers can separate Pippi’s funny retorts from the math, they will learn some addition facts — including a couple of word problems — from Chapter 2, in which Pippi briefly attends school. The teacher also shows the children some flash cards with animals and letters (I is for Ibex, S is for Snake). Kids will also learn about some traditional Swedish foods, as Pippi makes pepparkakor (cookies), as well as meatballs and pancakes.
Positive Messages: 3/5
A sense of fun is twice as valuable as perfect manners or a pile of money.
Positive Role Models: 2/5
Being like Pippi is not a realistic goal, but her bravery, imagination, independence, and brute strength make her a unique role model for girls. There’s problematic portrayal of indigenous island people as “cannibals,” and her father ruling them as “the Cannibal King,” a term that in later editions was changed to “King of the Natives.” This comes up when the author writes, “she was certain that he had come ashore on a desert island, one with lots and lots of cannibals, and that her father had become king of them all and went about all day with a gold crown on his head.”
Violence & Scariness: 1/5
Pippi intervenes when some bullying kids are beating up a little boy. In another scene, Pippi fires two pistols, blowing two holes in her ceiling. Toward the end of the book, Pippi displays her pistols and a sword. She also gives Tommy a pistol as a gift. Annika says she will only accept one of Pippi’s pistols if it is not loaded.
Sex, Romance & Nudity: n/a
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Language: n/a
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