Emil

Emil is a fair-haired, blue-eyed boy who lives with his family on a farm in Lönneberga in the soouth of Sweden. He appears in twelve books written by Astrid Lindgren between 1963 and 1997. Emil is creative, resourceful, good with horses and useful on the farm. Kind-hearted, full of good intentions and entirely without malice, he is also irrepressibly mischievous. His failure to foresee the consequences of his actions frequently land him in trouble. He often ends up being locked in the toolshed by his father, usually the unintended victim of his antics. Emil whiles away his imprisonment by carving wooden figures, dreaming of his next shenanigans.

The books were originally illustrated by Björn Berg (1923–2008) who captured perfectly the spirit of Emil and the warmth and humour of Lindgren’s writing.