The book is about a young lad, Nils Holgersson, whose "chief delight was to eat and sleep, and after that he liked best to make mischief". He takes great delight in hurting the animals in his family farm. Nils captures a tomte in a net while his family is at church and have left him home to memorize chapters from the Bible. The tomte proposes to Nils that if Nils frees him, the tomte will give him a huge gold coin. Nils rejects the offer and the tomte turns Nils into a tomte, which leaves him shrunken and able to talk with animals, who are thrilled to see the boy reduced to their size and are angry and hungry for revenge. While this is happening, wild geese are flying over the farm on one of their migrations, and a white farm goose attempts to join the wild ones. In an attempt to salvage something before his family returns, Nils holds on to the bird's neck as it successfully takes off and joins the wild birds. The wild geese, who are not pleased at all to be joined by a boy and a domestic goose, eventually take him on an adventurous trip across all the historical provinces of Sweden observing in passing their natural characteristics and economic resources. At the same time the characters and situations he encounters make him a man: the domestic goose needs to prove his ability to fly like the experienced wild geese, and Nils needs to prove to the geese that he would be a useful companion, despite their initial misgivings. During the trip, Nils learns that if he proves he has changed for the better, the tomte might be disposed to change him back to his normal size. The book also includes various subplots, concerning people whose lives are touched in one way or another by Nils and the wild geese. For example, one chapter centers on a young provincial man who feels lonely and alienated in the capital Stockholm, is befriended by a nice old gentleman who tells him (and the reader) about the city's history - and only later finds that it was none other than the King of Sweden, walking incognito in the park.

The Wonderful Adventures of Nils / The Further Adventures of Nils

History

Selma, Lagerlöf

Historical Study & Educational Resources

Puffin Books

The Story of Gosta Berling

Signet Classics

Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf was the first female writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.  The Wonderful Adventures of Nils -- which is the work of Sweden's greatest fiction writer -- was first published in Stockholm, in December, 1906. Lagerlof wrote it after a commission from the National Teachers' Association to write a reader for the public schools. She devoted three years to Nature study and to familiarizing herself with animal and bird life; she sought out unpublished folklore and legends of the different provinces, and wove them all into her story. With no small success; the book immediately became the most popular book of the year in Scandinavia.

Wonderful Adventures of Nils (Children's Illustrated Classics)

Children's Books

Classics

Dent

Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1909 — the first woman to be so honored — Swedish novelist Selma Lagerlöf (1858–1940) was a gifted storyteller whose writings were often tinged with the supernatural and rooted in the sagas and legends of her homeland. She secured her reputation as a children's-book author with The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, long considered a masterpiece of children's literature. Written at the request of Swedish school authorities and first published in 1906, it is the enchanting and remarkably original tale of Nils Holgersson, a mischievous boy of 14 who is changed by an elf into a tiny being able to understand the speech of birds and animals. Brilliantly weaving fact and fiction into a breathtaking and beautiful fable, the story recounts Nils's adventures as he is transported over the countryside on the back of a goose. From this vantage point, Nils witnesses a host of events that provide young readers with an abundance of information about nature, geography, folklore, animal life, and more. Reset in easy-to-read type and enhanced with 10 new illustrations, this inexpensive, unabridged edition will bring new generations of readers under the magical spell of a timeless classic.

The Wonderful Adventures of Nils (Dover Children's Classics)

Animals

Dover Publications

A farmer's wife becomes the foster mother of a troll's child and her humanistic treatment of the changeling eventually secures the return of her own son

The Changeling

Knopf Books for Young Readers

Mårbacka

Gale Research Co

A novel about a Swedish family's pilgrimage to the Holy Lands by the Nobel Laureate.

Jerusalem

Literature & Fiction

History & Criticism

Greenwood Press

Early twentieth century novel from the Swedish author and first woman writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.

The Treasure

Literary

Daughters, inc.]

The Saga of Gosta Berling

Penguin USA, Inc.

The story of Gösta Berling

Biographies & Memoirs

BiblioLife

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Books by Selma, Lagerlöf