Ronia, The Robber’s Daughter

Ronia, The Robber’s Daughter. A classic that I somehow missed as a kid.

This was one of those books that had me as soon as I saw the cover.

Written by Astrid Lindgren of Pippi Longstocking fame, it’s got everything we love in a read aloud book. It’s basically a Romeo and Juliet style story, where the lead character is a formidable pre-teen female and the kids (who are in love but refer to each other as sister and brother) get to ride wild horses, be surrounded by mythical creatures, spend their summers in the forest swimming and fishing in the rivers, and eventually lead the parents out of the darkness of their feud into a relatively peaceful and cooperative coexistence.

It’s not without moments of sadness, and the relationship between the kids is complicated and more real than many one might encounter in these kinds of books, but the ending is optimistic and the future looks bright.

Which is all we can hope for in our real lives as well, right?

Oooh also, if you are lucky enough to live in Japan, Studio Gibli is producing an animated TV series version of the novel set to air this fall. Sadly, those of us in the West are going to have to keep our fingers crossed that it eventually makes its way over to us…

You can find essentially new copies of Ronia on Alibris, among other spots…