Dani is happy to be starting school and she is even happier when she meets a girl named Ella who becomes her best friend, but something unexpected happens to Dani and Ella’s friendship.
My Happy Life
Sweden
Materials from Sweden
His Name Was Raoul Wallenberg
An amazing and inspirational World War II story about how one man saved the lives of many.
The Princess of 8th Street
A shy little princess, on an outing with her mother, gets a royal treat when she makes a new friend.
Moominpappa at Sea
A Moomintroll is small and shy and fat, and has a Moominpappa and a Moominmamma. Moomins live in the forests of Finland. One day Moominpappa is feeling at a loss. He has no idea what to do with himself because it seems everything has already been done. So he takes his family off to start a new life in a lighthouse on a tiny, rocky island far out to sea. It’s rather quiet and lonely at first, but as they begin to explore their unusual surroundings the Moomins discover some funny and surprising new things about themselves.
Moominsummer Madness
When a flood crashes through the valley, the Moomins move into a theater as it floats by, and they put on a play to find their lost relatives.
Comet in Moominland
Moomintroll encounters a mouth-organist, a moth collector, and a lovely maiden, and discovers the danger of a threatening comet when he takes a journey to seek advice from the Professor.
The Lily Pond
A year after Stephie Steiner and her younger sister, Nellie, left Nazi-occupied Vienna, Stephie has finally adapted to life on the rugged Swedish island where she now lives. But more change awaits Stephie: her foster parents have allowed her to enroll in school on the mainland, in Goteberg. Stephie is eager to go. Not only will she be pursuing her studies, she’ll be living in a cultured city again—under the same roof as Sven, the son of the lodgers who rented her foster parents’ cottage for the summer. Five years her senior, Sven dazzles Stephie with his charm, his talk of equality, and his anti-Hitler sentiments. Stephie can’t help herself—she’s falling in love. As she navigates a sea of new emotions, she also grapples with what it means to be beholden to others, with her constant worry about what her parents are enduring back in Vienna, and with the menacing spread of Nazi ideology, even in Sweden. In these troubled times, her true friends, Stephie discovers, are the ones she least expected.
Princess Sylvie
Princess Sylvie persuades her father, the king, to leave the palace gardens and walk in the woods. The king is unsure. What might be in the woods? Then Sylvie’s dog Oskar runs off after a long-eared hare and Sylvie’s adventures begin. This is a delightful story for young children about exploring new places and making new friends, and about the comforts of home.
The Tomtes’ Christmas Porridge
Every Christmas Eve, the Master puts out rice pudding for the tomtes to say thank you for their help around the house throughout the year. But recently the Master has forgotten, and Mama tomte knows he’ll forget again this year.The elves hatch a plot to steal a bowl of Christmas pudding, without being seen, so that Papa tomte doesn’t get angry. This charming story is based on an old Swedish Christmas tradition. It is illustrated with great humour and is full of delightful detail, as the tomte family scurry around their Master’s house one busy Christmas Eve.
Pippi Longstocking
Astrid Lindgren’s story of feisty, red-haired Pippi has been given a sparkling new translation by award-winning Tiina Nunnally and engaging pictures by acclaimed Lauren Child.