Mirabelle

by Astrid Lindgren, Pija Lindenbaum (Illustrator), Elisabeth Kallick Dyssegaard (Translator)

After planting a mysterious seed, a poor Swedish girl is delighted to find a doll growing in her garden.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Swedish Literature, Fiction, Sweden, Classics, Short Stories

32 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2003

About the author

Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren, née Ericsson, (1907 - 2002) was a Swedish children's book author and screenwriter, whose many titles were translated into 85 languages and published in more than 100 countries. She has sold roughly 165 million copies worldwide. Today, she is most remembered for writing the Pippi Longstocking books, as well as the Karlsson-on-the-Roof book series.

Awards:
Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing (1958)

Reviews

[Darla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This quirky story went in a direction I did not expect. Britta is six and would love to have a doll of her own, but her parents can't afford to buy her one. A creepy guy gives her a gold seed to plant one day when she is home alone. She waters that seed and a doll grows. Now she can stop dressing up the pet chicken and play with her doll. This is not one of those stories where the kid keeps something a secret and then bad things happen. Nope. She shows her parents the new item growing in the garden.The doll gets "ripe" and Britta is happy. The doll turns out to be more like an imaginary friend who picks her own name and gets a little rambunctious at times. The parents never know about that. . . Also, not a huge fan of the illustrations.

[Manybooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Astrid Lindgren's original fairytale Die Puppe Mirabell (which is called Mirabell in its original Swedish and Mirbelle in English translation) six year old Britta-Kajsa's greatest wish is for a doll, but since dolls are expensive and her parents do not have a lot of money (as growing and selling flowers and vegetables at a local market does not bring home all that much income), Britta's wish unfortunately has to remain one. However, one day, when her parents are at the market selling their flowers and vegetables, Britta-Kajsa opens a roadside gate for an elderly gentleman driving his carriage and since (like is usually the case when Swedish children open gates for carriages) the old man has no money on him, he instead gives to Britta a seed that she should plant in the garden (and which seed is supposed to grow into a bond fide doll). And indeed, this does in fact happen in Die Puppe Mirabell, so that after the seed has been planted and tended, a doll does actually sprout and then grow in Britta-Kasja's garden, a fun and sometimes mischievous entity named Mirabell (insisting on this name), who is not only a toy, but quickly and lastingly becomes a flesh and blood companion for Britta, not at all a haunted doll, but definitely an animated, breathing and living one.

So with Die Puppe Mirabell for both my inner child and adult me, Lindgren's text (and Britta-Kasja's first person narration), this shows a delightful combination of reality and fantasy, a sweet and fun story that makes us both smile and also makes us really happy for the main protagonist. For indeed, Britta-Kasja's wish for a doll has been granted and that she also has to a point created Mirabell as well, since she tended and cared for the doll seed (so that in Die Puppe Mirabell, Mirabell is not just a doll but is also Britta's best friend, that Mirabell feels like both a manifestation of Britta-Kajsa's need for closeness, friendship and affection and is at the same time kind of like her own daughter and a part of herself, the part of Britta that is a bit wild, naughty and full of self-determination, but which is usually being suppressed and denied).

Now Die Puppe Mirabell (as Mirabell) was originally published in 1949 in the collection of Astrid Lindgren tales titled Nils-Karlsson Pyssling (and with Ilon Wikland's accompanying black and white drawings). And while Pija Lindenbaum's more recent colour illustrations are fun and with much visual detail, from Mirabell's telltale flyaway blonde tresses to a pet chicken which obviously is being used by Britta-Kasja as a replacement doll, sorry, but I personally find Wikland's pictures much much more to my tastes (and that I do find how Lindenbaum has rendered Mirabell's eyes as bit uncanny and creepy). So yes, for this here 2003 picture book Die Puppe Mirabell, five stars for Lindgren's story, for her words, but only three stars for Pija Lindenbaum's artwork, for a combined rating of four stars for Die Puppe Mirabell (and that I do certainly rather prefer my collection of Astrid Lindgren's fairy tales, where Die Puppe Mirabell has Ilon Wikland's artwork).

[Cheryl]

Huh. I wonder if I would have liked it better if it were illustrated by Ilon Wiklund, who drew for Lindgren's 'Noisy Village' series? At least then the doll would be cute, not creepy. But even though I feel antipathy, I won't rate this, as I'm probably missing something....

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tykästyin tähän kirjaan aivan mielettömästi lukiessamme tätä tänään! Tämä Astrid Lindgrenin teos on mennyt minulta aivan ohi, mutta onneksemme olin lainannut tämän kirjastosta. Kuinka hurmaava tarina! Kuvitus oli oikea piste i:n päälle tässä kirjassa.

[francesca · Rating 4 out of 5]

mio libro preferito di quando ero piccola, che malinconia :,)

[Cynthia Egbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I had found this one as a child. I loved stories of dolls that came to life and became best friends and this one is delightful and quirky and even a wee bit mysterious. My heart is just so happy for little Britta who is no longer isolated and alone.

[أروى · Rating 5 out of 5]

بعد أن قرأنا هذه القصة سوياً - أنا وبناتي- بحثت ثلاثتنا عن دمية تحتضنها وتنام بجوارها

[Gudný · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite childhood stories

[Tiina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Huvitav lugu, hea tõlge ja suurepärased illustratsioonid.
Ehk olen näinud liiga palju õudukaid, et lugu täielikult nautida, aga selline armas iseäralik tekst. Illustratsioonide detailide otsimine oli lemmikosa lugemiskogemusest.

[Jade Pham Gift · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a bit strange with a wide open ending. It's written for age 10 and up. I can't say much without giving the plot away.

[Hanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for the Astrid Lindgren and children's literature course and it is definitely an odd story. Maybe it's just the prospect of a doll coming alive that scares me but the story feels like the beginning to a horror story. And not a fun horror-comedy - like Starkid's Black Friday - but a creepy one. It might just be me who don't like dolls and judges them harsher than many other toys.

[Sanna lukee lapselle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Erikoinen, mutta hurmaava tarina Riitta-Kaisasta, joka kasvattaa nuken puutarhassaan. Tarinan puitteet ovat varsin tavalliset ja vaatimattomat, mutta siinä on myös paljon taikaa. Asioita ei hirveästi selitellä tai alleviivata, ja mielestäni päällimmäisenä tästä jää mieleen lempeä tunnelma. Tätä oli kiva lukea kesällä ulkona.

[Patricia Lule Hamilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Så underbart mysig och skön ljudbok att lyssna på om de fina vardagsmirakel,som kan ske i ett barns fantasivärld.

[Linn J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gullig berättelse, jadå! Men är inte så förtjust att dockor kan leva... Sånt skrämmer mig faktiskt...

[Frans Kempe · Rating 4 out of 5]

En saga om den lilla magiska dockan Mirabell

[Liis Reemann-Aints]

“Seepeale plaksutas ta piitsa ja natukese aja pärast oli vanker kadunud, nii et seda polnud enam nähagi.”

[Ava · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kinderbuch von damals. Große Liebe.

[Eric Hinkle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aww

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Its purely a matter of taste, but the stories by Astrid Lindgren bore me stiff, even though there's nothing overtly wrong with the plots. The pace is slow and meandering, and the pictures don't do much for me either - slightly awkward, so that they aren't whimsical like Quentin Blake, but not realistic enough to be admirable in terms of artisanship. However, most people disagree and like this writer and illustrator (Pija Lindenbaum) team.

[Lily · Rating 5 out of 5]

We love quirky in this house. We all enjoyed this book and thought it was a great story. Cool storyline. The illustrations were a little dull. I would love to see it animated by Yonebayashi. Maybe, add a little twist and turn to the story.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fin historia om en flicka som så förfärligt, förfärligt, förfärligt önskar sig en docka. Mer kan jag knappast berätta utan spoilers, men det är en mycket trevlig liten bok som passar bra som kvällsläsning (dottern, 4 år, tyckte om den i alla fall), och den är väldigt fint illustrerad.

[Sherri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Katherine loves stories about dolls who come to life. Unlike another one we read (I need to come up with the name of it!), this doll is sweet and cute.

[Mitchy · Rating 5 out of 5]

อยู่ในเล่ม "นิทานสวีเดน"เหมือนกัน เล่มนี้รักมาก ใครเอาไปทำหายชั้นจะกัดหัวมัน

เรื่องนี้อ่านแล้วอยากมีตุ๊กตาที่พูดได้มากๆ

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

That is one unusual book--quirky, I would dare say. But funny.

[Bree · Rating 1 out of 5]

Notes:
we love Lindgren's Pippi books but this story was not our taste; a doll grows in her garden and can talk/eat/play when only Britta is looking

[Lise]

Beautiful book about a girl who gets a doll seed!

[تسنيم الحبيب · Rating 4 out of 5]

عوالم طفلة محرومة ، تهيء لها القناعة حياة سرية تضخ فيها الكثير من الفرح ، فعل الخير يزرع الحلم عند البوابة .