Pippi and the Moomins
aeon.co
aeon.co
Jansson also illustrated some books by other authors, for example The Hobbit: https://imgur.com/gallery/njtkL
He wrote most heart-warming stories for children or about children during WWII. If you read Russian, here's a great article about him: [2]
--- quote, Google translate ---
And the truth is that Nosov began writing stories shortly before the war (the first publication was in 1938), but the most famous, the brightest and most memorable were written in the most terrible years. Forty-first to forty-fifth.
The most important thing is that when you know the answer, annoyance immediately wakes up - well, of course, it's understandable! All young heroes have only mothers, where the fathers have gone is not clear. And in general there are not many male characters for the entire cycle: a rather elderly, apparently, "Uncle Fedya" on the train, who was all indignant at the recitation of poetry, and the leader Vitya, apparently, was a high school student. Ascetic life to the limit, jam with bread as a delicacy ...
But still there is no war there. Not by word, not by hint, not by spirit. I don’t need to explain why. Because this is for children. For children to whom life has already measured so much that God forbid us to find out.
--- end quote ---
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolay_Nosov
[2] https://www.gazeta.ru/culture/2008/11/27/a_2897371.shtml
It is worth noting that he alse wrote Dunno on the Moon - hardcore communist propaganda for children.
Moreover, Dunno on the Moon uses concepts and ideas that a person in the USSR would have no to little idea about (e.g. stock markets, negative campaigning etc.), or concepts that didn't even exist at the time of writing (police batons with built-in electric discharges first appeared in the West after Nosov's death).
Dunno in the Sun City is the communist propaganda promoting a statist view.(the anti-hooligan bits). Lots of cool tech will solve everything. Self-driving cars.
Dunno on the Moon is a biting satire of free market.
Some of the bits are still relevant.
-The big seed startup that Dunno creates with the shady partners.
-The stock market schemes on the barge.
-The pay for everything(key,blanket,tv etc) business model hotel.
-The police corruption.
-The collusion at the highest level.
-The dog walker profession. (the walker's condition is markedly worse than the dogs they care for
- the role of mass media
-The salt startup and the salt market dumping and crash.
One of my favorite quotes, such a great way to look at life
[0]https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/6773397-i-have-never-tried-...
My eldest is on the spectrum and seems to find the honest, gentle Nordic nature of both the style of writing and the content to be very appealing. We read a lot of books together and these are certainly his favourites. Might be of interest to others with similar thinkers.
> I mentioned the situation later to a colleague, who said that the same problem had come up in the family, but they had tackled it with a practical solution. Working with sound, this colleague processed the audiobook with editing software to find out whether the N-words could be cut out smoothly. That being done successfully, the children could then listen to the edited version. The problem was solved.
I like this part:
> “For my daughter, Pippi is a really empowering character, so I can’t just not read the book, because censorship would only make her more interested. So I edit the text while reading it,” he says.
But I guess "King of the Islanders" would be boring.
Times have changed!
Today it's a controversial word because by many it's considered racist almost like the n-word. However, especially older people don't consider it racist and they use it to describe people that otherwise might be described as "black".
Newer revisions of the Pippi books have been edited to no longer use the word "neger" and I think this applies to both the Danish and Swedish editions (it was approved by Astrid Lindgren's daughter).
I happened across some episodes on Youtube a couple of years ago, and my opinion of it was that it was "enchanting". Although aimed at kids, there's something distinctly magical about it. Drop your adult mind, and think like a child again.
>The antics in postwar Nordic children’s books left propaganda and prudery behind. We need this madcap spirit more than ever
True words especially in the middle of our moral panic.
OED (I've cut the examples)
> prude, a. and n.
> A. adj. That maintains or affects extreme propriety of speech and behaviour, especially in regard to the relations of the sexes; excessively modest, demure, or prim; prudish: usually applied adversely. Now rare.
[...]
> prude, a. and n.
> (pruːd)[a. mod.F. prude adj. and n., said of a woman in same sense as the Eng. (Molière in Littré), in OF. prude, prode, preude, in a laudatory sense, good, virtuous, modest, respectable; either a back-formation from prudefemme (cf. prudhomme) or a later fem. form of prod, pro, pru: see preux, prow a.]
>prude, a. and n.
> B. n. A woman who maintains or affects excessive modesty or propriety in conduct or speech; one who is of extreme propriety: usually applied adversely with implication of affectation.
[...]
> prude, a. and n.
> Hence ˈprudelike a., of the nature of, or characteristic of, a prude; ˈprudely adv., in the manner of a prude.
[...]
> prude, v.
> intr. To conduct oneself in the manner of a prude; to act prudishly. Hence ˈpruding vbl. n.
Websters Revised (1913):
> Prude \Prude\, n. [F., prudish, originally, discreet, modest;
> shortened from OF. prudefeme, preudefeme, a discreet or excellent woman; OF. preu, prou, excellent, brave + de of + fete woman. See {Prow}, a., {Prowess}.] A woman of affected modesty, reserve, or coyness; one who is overscrupulous or sensitive; one who affects extraordinary prudence in conduct and speech.
Chambers:
> prude /prood/
> noun
> 1. A person of priggish or affected modesty
> 2. Someone who has or pretends to have extreme propriety
> adjective ( rare)
> 1. Priggish or affectedly modest
> 2. Claiming extreme propriety