The Wonderful Adventures of Nils

By Selma Lagerlöf, TransVelma Swanston Howard Selma Lagerlof, Selma Lagerlöff, et al.

Book Overview

In The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Selma Lagerl f tells the story of Nils Holgersson, a young boy who is transformed into an elf after a set of misdeeds. Escaping with his family's farm goose he joins up with a flock of wild geese and travels with them across Sweden as they return to their annual nesting grounds in Lapland. The story was originally written as a commission for the Swedish National Teachers' Association to write a geography book for children and has become a firm favourite in the country. It's been adapted for screen many times, translated into over 30 languages and, until recently, was the artwork on the 20 krona banknote. Although originally published in English in two volumes-the second starting at "The Story of Karr and Grayskin"-here they are presented as a single combined story.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GVGH841V
• ISBN13: 9791043139314
• Release Date: February 2026
• Publisher: Les Prairies Numeriques
• Length: 544 Pages
• Weight: 1.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Exciting and good message

This is a wonderful book--This edition has BEAUTIFUL illustrations. Nils has one harrowing adventure after another and he also changes from a selfish boy to one who treats animals and other people with care and concern. All this while also teaching the geography of Sweden--an added bonus. It does involve him being bewitched until he learns his lesson so if you have strong feelings about this sort of fantasy you wouldn't want it, but to those who are OK with fairy tale level fanstasy you should find it enchanting.

Amazing book

This is an amazing book that gives so much information on the environmental features of Sweden that adults as well as children will be fascinated by the tale.

I read it as a kid, and want to share it with my own

It's a wonderful, kind-hearted tale. I readed in Russian and am delighted to find it in English. Will pull children in as well Harry Potter did. In my opinion it's an even better book. It's kinder for one, and it celebrates nature.

A fairy tale and a description of Sweden in one

Nils is a typical troublemaker in a village in southern Sweden who pulls the tails of cats, throws rocks at geese etc. Then he finds a gnome and teases him as well, but the result is that he is shrunk to the size of a sparrow so all the creatures he was mean to can get their own. Too ashamed to show his new self to his family, he travels with the wild geese on their annual migration to Lapland. What follows is a picaresque and description of the natural world of Sweden from the south to the north in terms of the environment, the animals and the life that they lead. The flock of geese is a matriarchy led by the experienced and assertive Akka. In his travels, Nils learns helplessness and helping others and has many adventures involving magic flutes, a castle with rats and an underwater city. He also learns respect and admiration for the animals and the natural world. This is a children's story with some features rarely found in other books (such as the matriarchy and the focus on the natural without too much "magic" - although the animals do talk) which makes it memorable.

The Wonderful Adventures of Nils

My dad read me this book when I was just young in Swedish. He is from Sweden and wanted his children born in America to know the culture and history of his homeland. That is what this book is about. It's actually a story of the geography of Sweden from the south up to the north. Taken from the view of a young trouble maker,who shrunken, rides on the back of a wild goose you get to experience the adventure with him. A delightful, delightful book.