Join in from today, Monday 6th to Sunday 12th June 2011 for a week of family events celebrating the joy of sharing stories, books and rhymes. With over 5,000 events be held nationwide, there’s bound to be something on near you, visit www.bookstart.org.uk
We recommend the following children’s books, both long time favourites in our Scandinavian home.

Mrs. Pepperpot (Norwegian: Teskjekjerringa, translation: the teaspoon lady) is a fictional character in a series of children’s books created by the Norwegian author Alf Prøysen.

The first book in the series was printed in 1956. The main character, Mrs. Pepperpot, is a little old lady who lives in a cottage in the countryside together with her husband, Mr. Pepperpot.
Mrs. Pepperpot has a secret – she occasionally shrinks to the size of a pepperpot, but nevertheless always manages to cope with the tricky situations that she finds herself in, at least partially thanks to the fact that upon shrinking she also gains the ability to understand and talk to all animals.

We highly recommend reading the many colourful stories about this kind little lady’s many adventures. Perfect bed time stories!

Nine-year-old free spirit, Pippi was the creation of the Swedish author, Astrid Lindgren. Pippi’s appeal to young children is her very unconventional and assertive personality. She is rich with lots of gold coins and she’s also extraordinarily strong, being able to lift her horse one-handed with ease.
Pippi lives in Villa Villekulla, on the outskirts of a little Swedish country town, with her pet horse and monkey. Her mother died when she was a baby and her father is away sailing a distant ocean.
The children next door, Tommy and Annika, clearly finds Pippi fascinating, but the town authorities are rather worried and alarmed about her behaviour and the fact that’s she’s living without adult supervision.

Lauren Child, well-known creator of Clarice Bean, is the perfect choice to illustrate this edition of Pippi. Her unmistakable illustrative style helps to bring a modern feel to the book originally from the 1940′s and will enable another generation of readers to enjoy the exploits of this extraordinary girl.

Available in the UK, at most independent bookshops as well as Amazon.