Long picture book, would make for a good 'family read-aloud at Christmas-time' tradition. Marvelous pictures, adventure, and lessons of courage, hope, and love.

I'm not sure why it's listed in the Madicken series - the characters here are not given the same names as the ones in [b:Mischievous Meg|42327|Mischievous Meg|Astrid Lindgren|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1334016580s/42327.jpg|2065703]. Also, that's a chapter book, and this is a picture book. I'd suggest reading all the ones that you can find, but not worrying about keeping the 'series' together.

If someone knows better, please comment. :) ( )

The book is about Christmas time in a small village in Sweden and tells the adventure of Elizabeth and Mardie. Like in Christmas in Noisy Village, the author gives an insight of typical Christmas preparations in Sweden, such as baking ginger bread, making sleigh rides and going to a small town to buy Christmas presents. Elizabeth wants to be brave and so she just jumps on a sleigh like one boy she knows. This decision results difficult, as they sleigh does not stop until they are in the middle of the forest and the girl is on her own. What I found very interesting is that the man riding the sleigh did not bring the girl back to her parents. He just leaves her back alone in the snow-covered forest. Maybe this is a way by the author that she wants to call the attention to the unkindliness of many people. Children should not only be careful on which sleigh they ascend, moreover, they should not get into a stranger's car. Although, it seems as if Sweden is a very safe country, there are people you should better not go with. But like in most or all books written by Astrid Lindgren, forest and animals play an important role. The girl goes into a cowshed and to limber up on a cow. This shows children who are not used to these types of animals that they are patient animals (maybe not always).
The book also shows how terrible it is for parents, siblings and friends if someone has gone and you don't know where he/she is. And how glad they are if someone comes back. ( )

The brave little girl Elizabeth wants to prove her courage by jumping on a driving sleigh of a stranger. It doesn't stop until they were in the deep forest all covered with snow. She just wants to be back in their cozy home with her parents and her sister. After a long cold and exhausting walk, she becomes so desperate that she just lies down on the snowy ground. Fortunately, an elderly couple just passes and takes her back home.
A lovely story which perfectly shows that children shouldn't always show their courage as it could end badly. ( )

En vacker julsaga ( )