THIS book, which is the latest work of Sweden's greatest fiction writer, was published in Stockholm, December, 1906. It became immediately the most popular book of the year in Scandinavia.
In 1902 the author received a commission from the National Teachers' Association to write a reader for the public schools.
She devoted three years to Nature study and to familiarizing herself with animal and bird life. She has sought out hitherto unpublished folklore and legends of the different provinces. These she has ingeniously woven into her story.
The book has been translated into German and Danish, and the book reviewers of Germany and Denmark,* as well as those of Sweden, are unanimous in proclaiming this Selma Lagerlöf's best work.
One reviewer has said: "Since the days of Hans Christian Andersen we have had nothing in Scandinavian juvenile literature to compare with this remarkable book." Another reviewer wrote: "Miss Lagerlöf has the keen insight into animal psychology of a Rudyard Kipling."