The Wonderful Adventures of Nils

Commissioned as a geography reader for Swedish schoolchildren, Selma Lagerlof’s book became something far larger: a beloved children’s classic read around the world. Nils Holgersson is a lazy, unkind farm boy who torments the animals around him until an offended elf shrinks him to the size of a thumb. Clinging to the neck of the family’s white goose, Nils is carried off with a flock of wild geese on a sweeping journey across the whole of Sweden, from the far south to Lapland and back. Along the way he learns courage, kindness, and the geography of his homeland. Tender and adventurous, it wears its lessons lightly. Free to read as a PDF and EPUB edition.