Cover Image: Hattie

Hattie

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Member Reviews

This chapter book is cute, and a lot of fun. Hattie is a little girl who lives past the center of nowhere in Sweden; she's six years old, and is about to go to school for the first time. Oh my goodness, the adventures she has! She makes a friend, she gets in trouble (a lot!), she gets lost, she acts badly (and feels bad about it), she acts like a six year old, basically- some things are universal. Even though some things in her life might be done differently, kids in the U.S. will be able to relate to the situations Hattie finds herself in; the huge emotions, the impulsiveness, and the suckage of dealing with the consequences of one's actions. The illustrations throughout are adorable, and capture the personalities of the characters perfectly. I look forward to seeing more of Hattie, I hope more of the series will be translated!

#Hattie #NetGalley

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Hattie is a 6 year old girl, very precocious . She is starting school finally, and gets to ride the bus. So exciting for Hattie. The pictures are so cute. This is acute story of a girls first year at school, making new friends, getting in trouble, celebrating, Christmas, turning seven.

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Hattie is a first year student in Sweden who, while trying to deal with her feelings and trying to protect her new friend Linda, often finds herself in lots of trouble. I got vibes of Clarice Bean (Maybe it was just the illustrations) with the matter-of-fact portrayal of Hattie and was also reminded of Pippi Longstocking with the cultural references of Sweden. I mostly giggled at Hattie’s hijinks in this book like when she wrote mean letters to all the neighbors because they lived elsewhere during the winter and weren’t around to give her Easter candy and when she picked the lock on the bathroom stall door and caught the church lady pooping, but also became a little alarmed when she put soap in a classmate’s drink when he teased Linda and his mom called worried that he had been poisoned (thankfully the whole family ended up suffering from a stomach bug) and when she and Linda planned to electrocute the lunch lady for forcing Linda to eat blood pudding (granted - pretty gross, but you still can’t go around electrocuting people).

Overall a fun book!

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Swedish author Frida Nilsson won the Astrid Lindgren Prize in 2014, which is quite fitting. Nilsson’s children’s book "Hattie" reminds me of Lindren’s "The Children of Noisy Village" and its sequels rather than the Pippi Longstocking books.

Set in Nilsson’s own birthplace of rural Hadermo, Sweden, the book chronicles Hattie’s first year at school. Like Lindgren’s "Mischievous Meg," impulsive Hattie gets up to all sorts of mischief at home and at school. The book provides some gentle lessons on how shy people can appear haughty and how one should think before one acts — although Hattie never does seem to get the knack of the latter! It’s a fun series of adventures for both children and adults.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley, Myrick Marketing & Media, LLC, and Gecko Press.

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Hattie reminds me of a Swedish Junie B. Jones or Ramona Quimby. This is the story of her first year in school and events of what seems to be about a years time. Told in a childlike way of course, because Hattie is only six.

Some of Hattie's antics are a bit odd for a children's book. Like when Hattie and Linda, her best friend who has a pet guinea pig named Roy, decide to get revenge on the lunch lady for making Linda eat two pieces of Blood pudding. They decide they are going to put water in an electric outlet with the intention of giving the woman a shock. Or when she gets upset about the woman from the church yelling at her when she opens the bathroom door and woman is sitting on the toilet. I'll admit, the use of the word "Plop" was a comical touch.

Overall, Hattie is a fun, and funny book. Her adventures are sweet and she quickly becomes an endearing child.

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This is an odd little adventure book about Hattie and the mischief she gets into. From things like pulling up the neighbors flowers, because she wants pretty flowers for her mother, to putting soap into one of the boys drinks, because she is angry at him.

Like any good picture book, you can read this at the children's level, as well as at the adult level, where things are hinted at, such as the father not approving of Hattie going to after school sessions at the local church.

The story follows her adventures for her first year of school, a place she has never been before, and because she lives way out in the back of beyond, she has never hung out with other children her age, so has no way to know how to react to them.

It is cute, a little weird, because even though it is a good translation, some things are still odd, and some things can't be translated, such as the song they are supposed to sing at the end of the year.

Enjoyable escape, however. So, recommend it.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

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