Astrid Lindgren’s zany picnic is a gastronomical feast. The chief picnicker is Pippi Longstocking, a brash, energetic, good-natured Swedish girl of nine who lives independently packs her own picnic. After zipping through some household chores, Pippi takes her friends Annika and Tommy for lunch. Sitting on a blanket, “they saw all the good things Pippi had spread on the ground. There were good sandwiches with meatballs and ham, a whole pile of sugared pancakes, several little brown sausages, and three pineapple puddings. For, you see, Pippi had learned cooking from the cook on her father’s ship.” In addition to the sandwiches, there are sugared pancakes, brown sausages, cheese, pickles, pineapple pudding, bananas, grapes, apples, pears, and chocolate milk.
How they eat all of it and walk home confidently is a wonder. As they walk, they sing.
In the happy summertime
Through field and wood, we make our way.
Nobody’s sad, everyone’s gay.
We sing as we go, ho-lá, ho-ló!
You who are young,
Come join in our song.
Don’t sit home moping all the day long.
We sing as we go, ho-lá, ho-ló!
* This is an original story excerpted from chapters in The Adventures of Pippi Longstocking. Illustrated by Michael Chesworth. New York: Viking Juvenile, 1997. The first of Lindgren’s books in the Pippi Longstocking [Pippi Långstrump] series appeared in 1945.
Featured Image: Michael Chesworth. Pippi’s Picnic. In Astrid Lindgren. Pippi’s Extraordinary Ordinary Day (New York: Viking Juvenile, (1999).