Pippi Longstocking

Pippi Longstocking

Lindgren, A. (1945). Pippi Longstocking. Rabén & Sjögren.

Pippi Longstocking is a series of books that tell the tales of an adventurous adolescent girl. A series of short stories tell the tales of a girl whose mother =dead and whose father disappeared at sea. Pippi must live alone in a house at the edge of a small town. Pippi is able to survive on her own because of the large amount of money her parents left her with. Her whit and independence help tremendously too. She doesn't go to school because her one attempt to do so did not end well. Moreover, she spends all of her time with her pet monkey and horse and playing with the well-behaved children next door. The unrealistic account of a girl surviving by herself, display ordinary days as exciting and wildly adventurous. 

This story would be great as a read aloud. The teacher could model fluency practices including expression and prosody. The short stories could be used separately or all together as the whole novel. I would use small sections to focus on visualizing and imagery. The story creates some wild scenes that would be fun for students to illustrate. The book also displays great use of figurative language. It could be used in older grades for to teach about the various types of figurative language.  

Here are some potential activities!