The Life and Works of Astrid Lindgren Quiz

Answer: in two braids

Pippi's hair is described in the book as being the same colour as a carrot and braided into two tight braids sticking straight out. She also has a nose like a very small potato and a wide mouth.

Answer: Junibacken

The house is called Junibacken after the home of Madicken from the book by same the same name (in English known as "Mardie's Adventures" or "Miscievous Meg", depending on the country). She is also its logotype, trying to fly with the help of an umbrella.

Answer: She had an illegitimate child.

When Astrid Lindgren was 18 years old, she became pregnant and left her small home town to escape the gossip. She had to give her son up for foster care and only got him back years later. She married Sture Lindgren in 1931, she never fought in the war, and she died of natural causes at the age of 94. For her 94th birthday she wanted peace on earth and nice clothes.

Answer: Brothers Lionheart

In the beginning of the book "Brothers Lionheart", the narrator and his brother both die and go to the country of Nangiyala. This place first seems like heaven, but it later turns out that there is evil in this new world as well, and the brothers have to fight it. By the end of the novel, the two of them die again, supposedly moving on to the country of Nangilima.

Answer: 2002

Astrid Lindgren died in 2002. She was 94 years old, and yet her death caused grief in many parts of Sweden.

Answer: Children of Noisy Village

The other books have been filmed as well. Both "Seacrow Island" and "Pippi Longstocking" have been filmed by Olle Hellbom, who was Sweden's most prolific director of Astrid Lindgren stories. (Pippi has also been filmed in English several times.) "Ronia the Robber's Daughter" was filmed by Tage Danielsson.

Answer: Agnes Cecilia

"Agnes Cecilia" is a children's novel by Maria Gripe. All the others are Astrid Lindgren stories, and have been published as picture books in English. "Mirabelle" is about a girl who grows a living doll from a seed. "Most Beloved Sister" is about Barbara's secret twin sister Lalla-Lee and the adventures they have together. "My Nightingale is Singing" is about a poor orphaned girl who is looking for something beautiful in life.

Answer: They sit under the table.

In order to get rid of their little sister and play alone, Jonas and Mia-Maria tell Lotta that pirates sit under the table saying "more food, more food" until Christmas.

Answer: There was already a famous character called Emil in a German children's book.

Erich Kaestner wrote the children's mystery novel "Emil und die Detektiven" ("Emil and the Detectives") in 1928 - long before Astrid Lindgren started writing books.

Answer: He jumped from a window.

When the brothers' home was on fire, Jonathan jumped out of a window with his little brother Rusky on his back, and the fall killed him. He was completely calm at the time of death, and his last words were, "Don't cry, Rusky. We'll meet in Nangiyala." Which they did - Rusky died (presumably of tuberculosis) soon after his brother's death.

Answer: Son

The person speaking is Mio's father, who has finally found him after nine long years. The Italian word "mio" means "mine", which makes "own" a reasonable assumption as well. And Mio's father doubtlessly loves him a lot. The book has also been published under the title "Mio my Mio".

Answer: one

In 1944, Astrid Lindgren wrote the book "Confidences of Britt-Mari" ("Britt-Mari lattar sitt hjarta"), which was a girl's book of the kind common in those days. Because Pippi was rejected at first and had to be rewritten, this book was published first. She wrote a few more books in the same style as the one of Britt-Mari, but they were never as popular as her other books.

Answer: Bill Bergson

Bill Bergson is a member of the White Rose gang, three kids who spend their time playing with or fighting the Red Rose gang. He is also a great admirer of fictional detectives such as Sherlock Holmes and Lord Peter Wimsey, but finds that crime is quite different in real life.

The three books about him are called "Bill Bergson, Master Detective", "Bill Bergson Lives Dangerously" and "Bill Bergson and the White Rose Rescue". In Swedish, Bill Bergson is called Kalle Blomqvist.

Answer: Madicken

She's called Madicken, although her birth name is Margareta. In the British translation (somewhat more faithful to the original than the American version) she's called Mardie.

Answer: Death! Death!

Death! Death! Astrid Lindgren lived to be very old, and she explained that she and her sister always greeted each other with those words. That way, they had talked about death right away, and could move on to nicer subjects. Astrid Lindgren didn't seem very afraid of death, and once said, "I don't mind dying, I'll gladly do that, but not right now, I need to clean the house first."

Answer: False

False. Their mother is dead, but their father is still alive. He's rather impractical, however, and Malin takes care of most things in the household.

Answer: A pig gave birth to him.

The pig was very surprised and never quite liked her dragon baby, according to the girl who tells the story.

Answer: Birk

To Ronia, rumphobs are part of what makes the forest nice to stay in, and being a robber's daughter she finds robbers highly natural. As for a knife, you simply can't do without one in the forest. Birk, whoever, she hates the moment she finds out he's the son of her father's worst enemy, and she wants nothing to do with him. Although she eventually changes her mind about that...

Answer: She was hanging from the flagpole.

Emil hoisted her up the flagpole as a game. They both thought it was a lot of fun, but the adults didn't. (Although one near-sighted lady asked Emil's parents why they kept the Danish flag!)

Answer: True

Yes he is, of the small Kurrekurredutt Island, where he floated ashore after being shipwrecked. In "Pippi in the South Seas", Pippi, Tommy and Annika visit him there.