Our tour of Scandinavia continued with a trip to Norway and a look at the Mrs Pepperpot books by Alf Prøysen. Mrs Pepperpot is a little old lady who is prone to unexpectedly shrinking to the size of a pepperpot (though in the original she is called Teskjekjerringa - the teaspoon lady). When she is small Mrs Pepperpot can talk to animals, which often help her to escape scrapes and adventures.
Several members of the reading group were familiar with the Mrs Pepperpot books, but none of us had realised the extent of Prøysen's celebrity in his native Norway. In addition to writing a great many stories, Prøysen was also a folk singer and playwright; a familiar character on Norwegian radio and television.
We all enjoyed our time spent with Mrs Pepperpot and her sometimes grumpy, pancake-guzzling husband. The illustrations by Björn Berg, who also illustrated Astrid Lindgren's Emil books, were an added delight.
Finally, Isabelle drew our attention to the phenomena of "shrinklit" - books about shrinking and tiny people. Classics include The Borrowers by Mary Norton, Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, Tom Thumb and Thumbellina. More recent examples include The Carpet People by Terry Prachett and Toby Alone by Timothée de Fombelle.
There will be a special children's preview of the new Japanese animation adventure, ARRIETTY at the Little Cinema in Bath on Saturday afternoon, 23 July - the first day of its UK release.
Set in present-day suburban Tokyo, the blurb says: "The scurry of tiny footsteps echoes underneath the floorboards of a sprawling mansion. Fourteen-year-old Arrietty has lived in the recesses of this grand manor all her life, totally unbeknown to the two old ladies who occupy it. Arrietty and her diminutive family survive by 'borrowing' everyday items from their inadvertent landlords. When 12-year-old Sho moves into the mansion while awaiting medical treatment at a clinic in the city, Arrietty starts to see humans in a different light. Disregarding her parents' advice, she announces herself to Sho and a friendship sparks into life."
Described as "a magical riff on British writer Mary Norton's cherished novel The Borrowers" this could be worth finding a child to take to!
