The Tomten

This classic children’s picture book is an introduction to the fabled Swedish gnome, the Tomten. He is the one who looks after everything while the farmer and his family are sleeping. At night, when all is quiet around the farm—that’s when the Tomten wakes up. (Ages 5–8)

Astrid Lindgren (1906-2002) was a well-known Swedish writer whose works renewed children's literature in Sweden and Scandinavia. Her best-known characters are independent and unconventional, including the untidy Pippi Longstocking, Karlsson, and Emil and his entertaining pranks. Her books for children received many awards, including the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award for Pippi Longstocking in 1973; the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1958; and the International Book Award from UNESCO in 1993.