Mrs. Pepperpot in the Magic Wood

Mrs. Pepperpot

by Alf Prøysen

The day before Christmas, Mrs. Pepperpot goes out to get a small Christmas tree in the Magic Wood next to her garden. Just as soon as she's about to cut one down, she shrinks to the size of a pepperpot. While she's small, she gets to meet all the people of the Magic Wood.

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Fantasy, Classics

Paperback

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

Alf Prøysen (23 July 1914 – 23 November 1970), was a writer and musician from Norway. His Mrs. Pepperpot books established him as a children's author. Prøysen was one of the most important Norwegian cultural personalities in the second half of the twentieth century, and he made significant contributions to literature, music, TV and radio.

Reviews

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Teskedsgumman blev en storfavorit efter Julkalendern på TV, lyssnade på radions uppläsningar, och hittade denna på biblioteket, med Björn Bergs illustrationer. Och nu har 50 år senare även hittat den begagnad hos Myrorna, för att läsa om och minnas barndomen.

[Bec · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the oddities of Scandinavian authors. This is a delightful, sweet little chapter book, of the lady who shrinks down to the size of a teaspoon (direct translation)/small doll (author description in story) / Pepperpot (marketing translation which has become nonsense, since I've never heard of a pepperpot as a household item!) and the outrageous shenanigans she gets caught up in - including being strong-armed into being a puppet in a puppet show, and being taught to swim by a frog!

[Joanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a re-read of a book I first acquired and read when I was in the juniors at primary school, back in the early 80s, probably around 1981. I was about 7 or 8, the same age my niece is now. I think she might enjoy this book! Our teacher had read some Mrs Pepperpot stories to us in class, so when the book came up in the Puffin Club brochure, I asked for it. :)

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Something magical about these ones.

[Kylie Abecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first Mrs. Pepperpot tale that has other ‘little people’ in it. It makes it seem more interesting and leaves you wondering where and how the other people(s) came about.

[Capn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nine delightfully funny stories about that incredible shrinking woman, Mrs Pepperpot!

How would you feel if you suddenly shrank to the size of a pepperpot? Well, that's exactly what happens to Mrs Pepperpot - and always at the most awkward moments. But it does lead her into a lot of very exciting adventures in which she meets some very unusual characters!

READ ALOUD
A book particularly suitable for reading aloud to young children

Cover and illustrations by Björn Berg

It's actually just seven stories of Mrs Pepperpot. Here are the contents:

Mrs Pepperpot in the Magic Wood - 7

Mrs Pepperpot and the Puppet Show - 21

*Midsummer Eve with the Ogres - 35

Mrs Pepperpot and the Baby Crow - 49

Mrs Pepperpot Learns to Swim - 61

Mrs Pepperpot Gives a Party - 75

*Sir Mark the Valiant - 90

Mrs Pepperpot Turns Detective - 101

Mrs Pepperpot and the Brooch Hunt - 113

*The Midsummer ogre one is about Gapy Gob and his human children helpers, Katie Cook and Charlie Chop, and doesn't feature the titular heroine.
Sir Mark the Valiant is about a bed-bound child (whooping cough) and a toy castle and knights who come to life. Also no Mrs Pepperpot here.

This was my first Mrs Pepperpot read, and while it is accessible to the neophyte, it opens by referencing earlier adventures. So perhaps I'll keep an eye out for the first installment of Mrs Pepperpot in the Young Puffins*.
*an unpleasantly unpredictable imprint, ranging from the learn-to-read, to a book like this (a 'Read Aloud'), to some dreadfully stodgy 'Story Books' including The Snow Kitten, which we had to (hopefully temporarily) abandon after 2 full, small-print pages about itinerant farming and seasonal work for slatternly Diddakoi families... urgh. It was a tough sell.

Unfortunately, the Mrs Pepperpot stories are very out of date (1968 for these). I think they should still be read for their cultural value - Mrs Pepperpot is a housewife, and Mr Pepperpot expects his supper to be hot and waiting for him on the table in a clean house after his hard day at work. Repressive? Well, maybe . . . it's very interesting to see what power Mrs Pepperpot does possess over her husband, and that lobbing crockery at your grumpy spouse appeared to be a socially acceptable move. Not sure you'd get away with that nowadays! She's a positive role model, in a way, finding clever ways of working around the cultural norms to get her way, and always standing up for what is right (which includes rescuing a puppy from being drowned in a sack because the 'breeder' (some git making money off his dogs) decided it was too ugly and wouldn't sell. I'd like to point out that this still happens, and that a BullyXL was drowned in its cage in a canal near us just this summer. It still had its litter tag on - some jerk couldn't sell it, so they lobbed it in the river. Please, for the love of animals, do NOT buy a pet when there are healthier and microchipped and castrated ones in shelters needing homes. Don't support your local scumbags).

Set in Norway, there is also some Norwegian cultural content, for example: her husband's favourite dish is macaroni pie; she orders pounds of herring from the fishmonger; the traditional decorations, desserts, gifts and festivities on Midsummer's Eve (note that this was not a Mrs. Pepperpot tale); the ways children while away the long, dark autumn evenings playing detectives with electric torches, and so on. Some 'little people' (Tom Thumb, Thumbelina, types) live in the Magic Wood as well. And the 'ogres' are both actual ogres, and humans mistaken for ogres, depending on the story within.

I really enjoyed this one. I'm rounding up to 4 stars from 3.5 because it's just so dated, though SADLY Pertussis is a thing, AGAIN, thanks to the sort of people who educate themselves on human immunology and innoculation campaigns via trumped up digital year books, I mean, social media... thanks, imbeciles. Thanks for jeopardizing our hard-fought gains in public health. Thanks a million. Anyway, poor old Mark (the Valiant), whopping away... I'll add this to the relevant Listopia list about obsolete diseases thanks to modern vaccines, but we've got Pertussis coming back, as is Measles... honestly, I could shout angrily about this for about an hour straight, given the soapbox. Argh!

EDIT: Ah, I forgot to mention "Mrs Pepperpot and the Baby Crow" in which the CROWS teach Mrs Pepperpot about the misguided love and false-'protection' wrought upon an injured wild animal in captivity! That was a GREAT read, and honestly makes this book worth tracking down - you might be able to find that story on archive.org or OpenLibrary, etc.

TL:DR - cute, Norwegian, but horribly, horribly dated. A relic.

[Sati Marie Frost · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read any Mrs Pepperpot since childhood, and I forgot how funny her tales are. In this volume, our pint-sized Norwegian spitfire becomes a real-life puppet in a puppet show, learns to swim, and plays detective with some kids from down the road. Delightful fun for kids of all ages.

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este libro lo leí por su título. Me recuerdo que me llamó la atención el título. Siempre disfruté mucho los cuentos de la Señora Cucharita.