Selma Lagerlöf

Paul Norlen

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The Wonderful Adventure of Nils Holgersson

Penguin Shop: 3 Clothbound Classics for £33

A masterpiece... It showed me that a book could be an adventure

Among women novelists of great talent or genius, none, in my opinion, is to be placed higher than Selma Lagerlöf

Every book of this great storyteller keeps on bringing us astonishing examples of her art... No one in Europe can tell tales so unforgettably

I am a strange Japanese who spent his infancy and boyhood under the overwhelming influence of Nils Holgersson. So great was Nils' influence on me that there was a time I could name Sweden's beautiful locales better than those of my own country... The destination of the soul: this is what I, led on by Nils Holgersson, came to seek in the literature of Western Europe

Grand, beautiful, exciting and poignant... This wise, rich text is a welcome addition to Penguin's Classics series

Nils Holgersson is a naughty boy who tortures animals and never listens to his parents - until one day he wakes up as an elf. Deeply puzzled by his new status, he climbs on a gander's back and flies away with him, joining a flock of wild geese. As he is carried around Sweden, Nils learns everything about birds, animals, his country and good behaviour. Incredibly charming and poignant, The Wonderful Adventure of Nils Holgersson is a timeless classic loved by generations of children around the world.

'The book is grand, beautiful, exciting and poignant ... It is full of poetical phrasing ... yet allows for the naughty spirit of childhood to remain true' Guardian 
 
'Never before had Nils travelled around at such good speed, and he had always liked riding fast and wild ... Nor had he thought what it might be like to travel so high above the ground. But it was like flying away from worries and sorrows and annoyances of every imaginable kind' 
 
Nils Holgersson is a naughty boy who pulls the tails of cats and trips up his mother while she is carrying the milk pail. Then one day he discovers he has been magically turned into a tiny imp. He climbs on the back of a gander and takes off with a flock of wild geese as they fly over Sweden, soaring above patchwork fields, through storms, to castles and lakes and even to a city under the sea. As he learns about the world, he also learns what it means to care for living things, in Selma Lagerlöf's timeless and beloved fable.

Selma Lagerlöf (Author) Selma Lagerlöf (1858-1940) was a teacher in a girls' secondary school before she became a full-time writer. She is known around the world for her classic children's book The Wonderful Adventure of Nils Holgersson and she was the first female writer to win the Nobel Prize in 1909.

The Wonderful Adventure of Nils Holgersson

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A masterpiece... It showed me that a book could be an adventure

A childhood favorite

Among women novelists of great talent or genius, none, in my opinion, is to be placed higher than Selma Lagerlöf

Every book of this great storyteller keeps on bringing us astonishing examples of her art... No one in Europe can tell tales so unforgettably

Grand, beautiful, exciting and poignant... This wise, rich text is a welcome addition to Penguin's Classics series

About Selma Lagerlöf

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