The Wonderful Adventures of Nils

When I first read Nils Holgersson in Swedish I wondered, as a translator, what the style and the level of writing could be in other languages. If the German and French translations of this litterature masterpiece are remarkably good nothing compares with the 'tour de force' Velma Swanston Howard achieved. Hats off! The quality and the English level are rather high, which may make it somewhat difficult for children under 9 or 10 to read nowadays (rampant illiteracy being no piddling evil).Nils' adventures are those any child could wish to experience, be it only in their dreams, and turn out to be a fantastic tool to learn Sweden's geography and mores in a very recreative way. The vocabulary of birds, trees and plants is quite rich and widens children's knowledge consequently. In short, an edifyng,teaching book which mingles fantasy, adventure, ecologial awareness, civic-mindedness (but fortunately not moralizing to the extreme, THAT would be boring !)with a freshness of style. Some good and salutary food for thought and dreams!This book is the exact translation of the complete Swedish version (abridged in parts with the author's consent and approval at the turn of the century for the Swedish edition as it was sometimes too "stodgy" with all its geographical details). N.B. There is a shorter version for children aged 4 to 5 that makes them want to read the entire book later on their own wthout their parents' help or reading it aloud for them for bed-time.

We have a dreadful controversy in Moray, Scotland, where I live: it is allowed by the local authorities to shoot every winter great numbers of over-wintering wild geese where they roost in a nearby bay. There is no control over this shooting, it's a regular free-for-all, despite this bay being a Nature Reserve. Ah, they say, but not below the high-tide mark!So, I bought two copies of this wonderful tale of a boy who gets turned into a tiny gnome by a gnome he teases and then sets off with his farmyard gander and the wild geese on their annual summer migration. After all their adventures together, Nils is transformed and the gnome turns him back to his normal size. In Britain, this story isn't known at all, it seems, certainly not up here. So, I have donated these two copies to the Moray Library Service in the hope that local children will also learn to appreciate geese and all other wild life by reading this classic, which is not only very well-known in Scandinavia, but in Germany too!And ultimately, I wish it will help the wild geese that come to Moray and beyond over the winter months.

It could be classed as a moral tale. It depicts a young lad transformed into an elf by his own fault. From then on the adventure starts, and what adventure! The whole of Sweden and its legends are depicted for you mixed in a fantastic thrilling story of Nils who has to face challenges in the company of geese.The style is really gripping, the legends may be unknown to ppl outside Sweden but provide a marvellous background to the tale.This was my first book that my mum read to me, and it remains a book that is worth reading and reading again.Selma Lagerlof I believe won the Nobel Prize,she loved her country and wrote other books, but Nils has passed into history and if you do not know this endearing character yet... jump on this opportunity to read this book. You will not be disappointed if you want adventures.

These reviews appear for all books with title The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, before you purchase make sure that you are buying the version that you really want, I have purchased both abridged and full editions, The abridged editions are not the original book (best suited to very young children) click here for example of abridged shortened book - 96 pages click here for example of unabridged original book - 219 pages the page numbers are an indication of the type of book, in my opinion you will not find this book unabridged with less than about 200 pages.

This is the first time I've had this book in English and in one book instead of multiple books, but this version is great

I read this book for the first tim when I was eight years old... I'm seventy now, and I still feel the magic of this wonderful Nobel prized writer! The story of Nils is not only a literary masterpiece, but lesson of life!

one of the best books of my childhood 70 years ago and still good today.If only the publishers would bother to remember it and reduce the number of useless children books nowadays published.

The cover image on actual book is not all like that illustrated online. Also I am not sure about the multiple columns in which the text is set. Let's hope my grandson is not put off a wonderful tale..