“I feel sorry for all children who don’t live in Noisy Village”
What’s the Story?
Astrid Lindgren may be best known for Pippi Longstocking, but my favorite story by the celebrated Swedish author is The Children of Noisy Village.
Not so much a village as a cluster of three farmhouses, Noisy Village is home to 9-year-old Lisa, her brothers Karl and Bill, and her neighbors Anna, Britta, and Olaf. Together, they cause all sorts of ruckus. I’ll give you one guess as to how their homestead got its nickname.
From catching crayfish on Lake Nocken to a shopping trip plagued by mishaps, The Children of Noisy Village is a glimpse into childhood in 1920s rural Sweden—a time before the widespread adoption of automobiles, much less smartphones and social media.
Why is it Great?
The Children of Noisy Village captures the charm of childhood perfectly. If you like Little House on the Prairie or Anne of Green Gables, then you’ll love this. It’s fun, it’s humorous, and it’s filled with childhood’s fairy charms.
In our abrasive world of social media and tribal politics, The Children of Noisy Village is chicken soup for the soul. While internet trolls shout angrily at one another, Lisa and her accomplices shout in delight. While the anxieties of our world simmer all around us—global warming, rising prices, identity politics—Karl and Bill are too busy pretending to be goblins in the forest to worry about such big and unimportant things.
“I feel sorry for all children who don’t live in Noisy Village”, says Anna.
Times have changed but the nature of childhood doesn’t have to change with it. You might be forgiven for thinking the zombie apocalypse is upon us, as children in public stare vacantly at their tablets, but The Children of Noisy Village reminds us that children are meant to roam free, take risks, and make their own fun. That was true a hundred years ago and it’s true today.
So, if you want a break from a world that’s all noise and no signal then visit Sweden’s countryside and the noisy children who live there.
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