'Bertrand Russell has written that a child dreams about power as grown-ups dream sexual wish dreams,' Mrs. The sheer subversive quality of the books, whose brazen young heroine does exactly as she pleases, made them unusual for juvenile literature of their era and have insured their enduring appeal. 'Pippi' and its sequels have together sold millions of copies and been translated into more than 50 languages.

'She had no mother and no father, and that was of course very nice because there was no one to tell her to go to bed just when she was having the most fun, and no one who could make her take cod liver oil when she much preferred caramel candy,' the book begins. The title character is a 9-year-old carrot-haired enfant terrible who lives cheerfully by herself in the ramshackle Villa Villekulla and befriends her better-behaved, better-groomed neighbors, Tommy and Annika. Lindgren produced more than 70 books for young people, she was best known as the author of the classic 'Pippi Longstocking,' which was first published in Sweden in 1945 and in the United States five years later. In 1999 she was voted the most popular Swede of the century.Īlthough Mrs. In addition to being a beloved cultural figure in Sweden, she was also a powerful political force, successfully lobbying on such issues as tax reform and improved conditions for farm animals.

Lindgren became one of the world's most widely translated authors since she began publishing in the 1940's. Astrid Lindgren, the Swedish writer whose rollicking, anarchic books about Pippi Longstocking horrified a generation of parents and captivated millions of children around the globe, died in her sleep today at her home in Stockholm.

Astrid lindgren longstocking