Linnea's Almanac

by Christina Björk, Lena Anderson (Illustrator)

Linnea records her activities in an almanac whose entries reflect and offer possibilities for indoor and outdoor fun

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books, Nature, Gardening, Fiction, Read For School

60 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

"I was born in 1938 in Stockholm, Sweden, and I have been living there ever since. I love this city, built on some small islands between lake Mälaren and the sea. It’s a city with lots of water and trees and a lot of nature all around it.
I lived and went to school at the island Kungsholmen, just like my good friend and illustrator Lena Anderson. But our school was so big that we never met. I was the only child and got a lot of love and attention from my parents. Every night my father told me a story he had invented, often about my teddy bear, Nalle, and my toy monkey, Jakob, who flew away on my bed-carpet during the night."
Christina Björk's books have been translated into more than 20 languages.

Reviews

[Maleka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply fantastic! A young Swedish girl who grows up in the city takes us through every month out of the year and her gardening, crafting, planting, and other activities that she does by herself and with her two older neighbors. It's so cool- shows how to make a garland out of dandelions, a rhubarb leaf hat, how to press flowers, and other fun activities.

[Goshen PL Childrens · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a charming little almanac of Linnea's encounters with nature from a city-girl perspective. The flow of the text is a bit awkward, but to be expected from a translation. Overall, it's a sweet read and perfect for a proficient reader with a love for nature.

[Lizzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun way to learn about nature, through the eyes of a child growing up in Sweden. Lots of fun ideas to try out, and a gentle story weaving through that helps you to learn without realising it!

[Capn · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Hi! My name is Linnea. I am named after the linnaea, a little pink woodland flower. I'm no woodland flower, though - I'm an asphalt flower. I live right in the middle of the city, but I love plants and flowers and everything that grows. So a city isn't such a great place for someone like me, right? Wrong. All over my room, things are growing.

This one doesn't need any more reviews - and the ones it has are useful and full (thank you to those who wrote them!) - but I've been waiting to buy this book for a few years now. It was never as cheap as the other secondhand children's books I've had on my to-read list, so it always got pushed aside. I finally bought it for 8 GBP ($10 USD) a couple of days ago, when I was having a post-Lent shopping spree (idiot that I am, I gave up buying books for 40 days. Almost went insane..).

This one is truly the gem that the other reviewers make it out to be. It's one of the many "I bought this for the kids, kept it for myself" books in our home collection now. It reads a lot like the nature and gardening books by Gerda Muller (The Garden in the City; Around the Oak; How Does My Garden Grow?, etc. - all excellent books, and, dammit, while linking those I found another of hers I'll need now!) - Muller is Dutch, whereas this one by Christina Björk is Swedish. And there's something so utterly cool about how other cultures approach and appreciate nature. You'd think it would be universal, but it isn't, and it's so lovely to find new traditions and crafts - especially when it's making use of ubiquitous dandelions, nettles, rhubarb leaves, fallen autumnal maple leaves... Also, I'm fairly certain most European kids know the taste of elderflower syrup or cordial (or the adult version, a refreshing Hugo!), but North American kids might not. And they should. (Also, and this is off-topic but I figure it should be noted: Waldmeister, a.k.a. scented bedstraw, is a woodland herb/weed in Europe and they use it to flavour things like Ahoj Brause-Pulver (basically fizzy Kool-Aid) and Götterspeise (equiv. of Jell-O)... and it's Johnson&Johnson's Baby-Powder flavour. Seriously - that scent/flavour is eaten in Europe, and it's a shock to anyone raised in the New World who grew up associating it solely with talc, let me tell you!) ;)

Speaking of North American kids, The Hike (American Pacific NW) and Berry Song (Coastal Alaska), are two you need to look into, if books on berry-picking and nature crafts are your bag. I also love Little Witch Hazel: A Year in the Forest for nature-based fiction, and Elsa Beskow's books, but now I'm back into Euro-content. :)

Just wanted to say this is worth tracking down. You can't 'read' it as a bedtime story, but as a reference book.. it's worthwhile. :)

[Mother Goose Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Linnea's Almanac is written by Swedish author, Christina Björk and it is illustrated by Lena Anderson. It is one of three picture books about Linnea. In Linnea’s Almanac, she spends a year documenting the city’s nature scape and records nature-based activities in her almanac. Watercolor and ink illustrations, along with some photographs are sprinkled within the pages of the book. Although this is a publication from 1982 and it’s a Swedish picture book, it’s definitely worth a try to get a copy from your local library. It’s the perfect book to inspire notebooking and nature journaling.

Here’s a little peek inside Linnea’s Almanac.

Also, you maybe interested in Linnea’s other picture books.

[Sara Lorenz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Underbar barnbok som jag ser fram emot att läsa för min egen dotter Linnea!

[Bloodorange · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely for ages 6 to 8.

[Allison Burgess]

Anderson, L. I., & Bjork, C. (1989). Linnea's almanac. R & S Bks.

Citation by: Allison Burgess

Type of Reference: Almanac

Call Number: 500

Content/Scope: The characters in the book study nature throughout the year, tracking the changes month to month.

Accuracy/Authority/Bias: This book has been reviewed by School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and Booklist.

Arrangement/Presentation: The 61 page book presents illustrations of collage medium to tell the story of the garden story.

Relation to other works: This book is loosely related to the Old Farmer's Almanac as Linnea tracks the growing things in her city world. It also has a connection to the text Monet's Garden, as the two share the same main character.

Accessibility/Diversity: This book is from a Swedish author, so it will introduce students to some terms from Sweden.

Cost: $13.00

Professional Review: Adler, A. (1990). Linnea's almanac (Book Review) (Undetermined). School Library Journal, 36102.

[Sydney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although this book is probably meant for seven or eight year old kids, I really think it's great for older kids too--and even adults. It's not a picture book, exactly, nor a chapter book(well, kind of a chapter book). But it has good stories, cute illustrations, interesting facts, and fun things to do. A great book to read little by little all year--it is an almanac, after all!

[Marmot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Linnea is the sweetest person; a combination of the girl I would like to have been, and the child I would love to know! It helps that her name is the same one I had picked out if either of my children had been girls, as she is named after one of my favourite flowers, and Carl Linnaeus at the same time. I am glad my 4 year old son loves the Linnea books as much as I do!

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Linnea goes through the year month by month offering nature-based observations, projects (bird feeders, crowns made of maple leaves) and little stories. My daughter loved this book and we used it as a resource for things to do and learn about the world.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming book with lovely illustrations. The surprise is how many of the ideas are so useful and well-done. This is actually a book for all ages, but requires adult participation for younger children. For example, only an older child could build a window box.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The perfect book for a year-round nature study. Will be purchasing this one for sure!

[Taylor Kundel-Gower · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many great ideas! I would love to owns copy!

[Júlia Villő · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the cutest book what I ever read.

[The Bookworms · Rating 4 out of 5]

Noah (7): It was great! I've learnt lots. I liked Linnea and the story in it.
Beth (6): it was really good! I learnt loads about birds and flowers and trees and nuts.

[Madeleine Knutsson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Läst till 1LI100 Barn­ och ungdomslitteratur, 30 högskolepoäng

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Linneas årsbok är underbar! Jag älskar illustrationerna! Och det finns många Ideer för barn i naturen.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Month by month gardening activities - from a kids point of view. Great book

[Jennifer Heise · Rating 5 out of 5]

This charming companion to Linnea's Windowsill Garden highlights gardening activities, plants, animals for each month of the year. If you love Linnea and her gardening, you'll also love this volume. Even standing alone, this is a fun read for young (or not-so-young) gardeners, filled with the lovely and accurate illustrations.