Astrid Lindgren (1907– 2002) was a beloved Swedish public figure, author, and screenplay writer. Best known for her children’s book series, Pippi Longstocking, Lindgren was the recipient of many honors and awards for her support and role in fighting for children’s and animal rights.
She is the eighteenth most translated author, and even has a minor planet named after her that was discovered in 1978. Here is a sampling of quotes by Astrid Lindgren, the inspiring creator of Pippi and other unforgettable characters.
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These days, I know as many women as not that belong to a book club (or book group, as it’s often known). Book clubs can be rewarding for anyone, male or female, single or part of a family. They’re perfect brief respites from the stresses of life, especially for busy women.
Book groups can form strong bonds and have surprising longevity, becoming somewhat of an anchor as the world shifts beneath our feet. There’s something about the combination of good books and good friends that feels quite timeless and comforting, even when discussing a challenging book or difficult themes.
Whether your group has been together for two years or two decades, it’s possible to fall into a rut. Are you squeezing out 30 to 45 minutes of discussion on who did or didn’t like the latest novel you chose before digressing into idle chit-chat? If so, you might need a change of pace. Read More→
The Custom of the Country is a 1913 novel by Edith Wharton. Undine Spragg, its heroine, is an ambitious young woman from the American midwest. Raised in the fictional town of Apex, she’s the product of a family who has risen to a certain social status through sketchy financial dealings.
Undine strives to rise in New York City society through a succession of marriages and divorces that ultimately lead to her undoing.
Undine Spragg has often been compared to Becky Sharp of Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray, minus any of the charm. It has occasionally been supposed whether Edith Wharton, though a woman herself, was a misogyynist. Read More→
Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates by Mary Mapes Dodge (1865) is the classic tale of Hans and his sister Gretel (not to be confused with Hansel and Gretel). It takes place in Holland, and though the author created a lovely picture of Dutch life in the early 19th century, she never visited the country until well after the book’s publication.
In the 1946 edition, the Brinker children’s parents are described as a “gallant mother and strange, silent father.” The latter’s condition, as it turns out, is due to a head injury.
The family is relatable and timeless because they “are very real people with ambitions, hopes and problems that the young reader shares as he or she reads their story. The Brinkers are very poor, but during one eventful winter many wonderful things happen to them.” Read More→
Establishing a read-aloud ritual can be one of the most gratifying ways to enjoy well-spent family time. If raising children leaves you with little energy or patience for personal reading, take comfort in knowing that reading aloud to kids can be as nourishing for the reader as it is for the listener(s).
Literacy experts agree that reading aloud to children from an early age helps assure their becoming avid readers later on.
Don’t limit reading aloud to preschoolers—school-age children and sometimes even teens love being read to. Add whatever embellishments you’d like—a warm beverage, a specific setting, lots of cuddling—to ensure a prominent place in your child’s memory for this time-honored ritual.
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Following is Professor Sarah Wyman’s analysis of The Awakening by Kate Chopin, an 1899 novella telling the story of a young mother who undergoes a dramatic period of change.
She “awakens” to her own desires, casting off the restrictions of her traditional societal role as wife and mother, and seeks her full potential as a woman.
Many times, we find Edna Pontellier awake in situations that signify more metaphorical awakenings to new knowledge and sensual experience. Read More→
This analysis of The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1892) highlights a long short story (or short novella) considered a feminist literary classic. The story starts with a bit of a mystery: the house seems to have “something queer about it.”
As we read on, it becomes clear that the house isn’t the only thing that’s “queer ” The secluded country home and the attic room the narrator inhabits come to represent or symbolize her tenuous situation and slippery sense of self.
The nameless heroine/narrator lives under her physician/husband’s care as a patient (deemed abnormal), subjected to the “rest cure” as a treatment for what appears to be postpartum depression.
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Portrait of a Marriage: Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson (1973) is the story of an unconventional union, written by one of the couple’s two sons, Nigel Nicolson.
Vita Sackville-West was a novelist and poet was known for her role in the Bloomsbury circle and her intense friendship with Virginia Woolf; Harold Nicolson was a diplomat and scholar.
Though neither admitted it to the other when they were courting and in the early days of their marriage, both were primarily attracted to members of their own sex. Read More→
