Emil i Lönneberga
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Emil i Lönneberga is a series of children's novels by Astrid Lindgren, covering 12 books written from 1963 to 1997. Emil, the title character, is a prankster who lives on a farm in the district of Lönneberga (Swedish lönn: maple; berg: hill, mountain), in Småland, Sweden.
5-year-old Emil Svensson lives with his family on a farm called Katthult. He has got fair hair and blue eyes and looks like an angel, but is not, as he also has a prodigious knack for getting into trouble. Emil is not malicious, but does not think about the consequences of his actions. For example, he gives away food - which is meant to be dinner for relatives who will soon come to visit the family - to the poor because in his view they need it more. Every time Emil plays a "prank", he escapes his father by locking himself in a tool shed. This is not a severe punishment for Emil, who likes sitting in the shed and takes to carving a wooden figure during each of his stays. He eventually accumulates 369 of them, save for the one his mother buries because she claims it looks too much like the rural dean.
His parents are Anton and Alma Svensson, Ida is Emil's little sister - a very well-behaved child, unlike him. She has tried to pull pranks like her brother since she wanted to go to the shed, which she thinks is cozy, but she failed. His father, in particular, is often angry with his son, though it has been seen many times he still likes him a lot when he does not make pranks. His mother, however, adores her boy and tends to say, "Emil is a nice little boy, and we love him just the way he is." She also writes down every bad thing Emil does, in a blue book, although, that blue book expands to several blue books. Alfred is the family's farmhand, and Lina is their maid. Alfred, who is very fond of children, is Emil's best friend, whereas Lina dislikes the boy. She is in love with Alfred and pesters him with her wish to marry him, a subject which Alfred tends to avoid.
Emil's father is portrayed as a very typical inhabitant of Småland - for example, he does not like spending money. In Sweden, this is regarded to be characteristic of people from Småland. Church is very important, and the priest is a regular visitor. Alcohol and swearing are strictly forbidden in the Svenssons' house. The books give a vivid impression of Swedish farmers' daily life in the beginning of the 20th century.
Film adaptations
- Emil i Lönneberga (1971)
- Nya hyss av Emil i Lönneberga (1972)
- Emil och griseknoen (1973)
