Selma Lagerlöf

Dover Children's Classics: The Wonderful Adventures of Nils Selma Lagerlöf

Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1909 the first woman to be so honored Swedish novelist Selma Lagerlöf (18581940) 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. Reprint of the Doubleday, Page & Company, New York, 1907 unabridged edition.