Nilsson has a peculiar power to make you remember exactly what it was like to be small, fierce, disempowered and six
Hattie
A funny, lively illustrated chapter book about a street-smart country girl in her first year of school, from internationally award-winning Frida Nilsson.
Illustrated by Stina Wirsén
Translated by Julia Marshall
Available as an ebook wherever you buy your ebooks
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Description
Hattie is a street-smart country girl in her first year of school. She lives just outside of nowhere, right next to no one at all. Luckily she’s starting school and that brings new adventures.
Hattie gets her first swimming badge, falls madly in love with a hermit crab and meets a best friend. Sometimes things go wrong—like when the hairdresser cuts her hair into stumps just in time for school photos.
Hattie is perfect for newly independent readers from Frida Nilsson, whose award-winning The Ice Sea Pirates was an international bestseller. Read our interview with Frida here.
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Book Details
Country of Origin Sweden Reader Age 5-7 year, 6-8 year Book Size ISBN
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Reviews
Available worldwide from your local bookstore or online.
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Youth Services Book Review –
The simple, very expressive illustrations done in pen and ink and outlined in black add much to enjoying the adventures of this little girl.
Magpies –
Her worries, struggles and enthusiasm will be familiar to young readers and make Hattie familiar and likeable – someone you’d like to have as a friend…Imbued with colour and a very Swedish feel, Hattie introduces Australian readers to a loveable, naughty and very full of life young girl. Spending a year in Hattie’s world is an enjoyable and enlightening experience.
What We Do All Day –
Nilsson’s rambunctious 6 year old heroine, Hattie, will quickly become your child’s new best friend.
INIS Magazine –
Hattie proves to be a memorable heroine with an impulsive streak and a nose for trouble and is somewhat reminiscent of that other Scandinavian mischief maker Pippi Longstocking. The school story is a familiar one in children’s literature, but Hattie’s tale is told in a fresh, funny and oh-so-relatable way. Her worries and fears will be familiar to all readers, big and small, and her empathetic reactions to the situations in which she finds herself make this a realistic and engrossing read. Nilsson is a master at making you see the world through her characters’ eyes, and Hattie is a character to be celebrated in this charming, funny and relatable book. With quirky and amusing illustrations by Stina Wirsén, Hattie is a pure delight from start to finish and will be eagerly gobbled up by young readers everywhere.
Dimity Powell –
there is much to love about this loud-talking, large-hearted, scamp of a girl. Her spirit blinds you with its brilliance. Humour bubbles through every candid utterance and through every artless thought until your tummy wobbles with mirth.
Review from NetGalley –
Hattie is a fun, and funny book. Her adventures are sweet and she quickly becomes an endearing child.
The Children’s Book Council of Australia Reading Time –
Hattie’s cover T-shirt “Watch Out” sets the tone for Hattie’s adventures. Many of Hattie’s escapades are rebellious but she is often the one who tones down her behaviour or recognises her own failings and does something to correct them…Short chapters make this book inviting to younger readers. Sentence structure is simple but not simplistic. There are occasional black line drawings which enliven the text.
ReadPlus –
While Hattie is a mischievous child prone to dramatizing and over thinking situations, she is an endearing character. She has a very contrite and caring side when she realizes she has gone too far. It is an easy to read story with short chapters and would be a great read aloud story for Junior Primary students. The simple illustrations by Stina Wirsen are spaced throughout the text and make a welcome addition to the story.
Readings –
It’s a completely wild ride – from hysterical laughing to nail-biting nerves, Hattie puts you through your paces. For a large part this is because she is a huge troublemaker. Yet what makes her antics so amusing is that her impulsiveness leads them to (nearly) go very wrong…Frida Nilsson is a worthy successor to the great Astrid Lindgren, and indeed Hattie could very easily be this generation’s Pippi Longstocking.
NZ Poetry Box, Paula Green –
Hattie reminded me of audacious Pippi Longstocking – but Hattie is her own extraordinary self, and she’s excellent company.
Outside in World –
Readers are sure to be endeared to Hattie’s independent spirit. The simple line pen and ink drawings by Stina Wirsén are comical and expressive and help to capture the lovable Hattie and her antics. Hattie is the perfect series for newly independent readers.
Red Reading Hub –
Youngsters around Hattie’s age will surely love reading about, or hearing of, her escapades; this is a girl with a thirst for fun, a total charmer who just doesn’t stop and think about the consequences of her actions before plunging straight in. She does though pause for thought, reflect and take on board the lessons learned. The occasional line drawings by Stina Wirsén are a sheer delight too.
The Times –
“Hattie is from the Pippi Longstocking school of clever, anti-establishment little girls who have the capacity for misrule until their conscience kicks in, their hearts turn to fondant and they return to the path of righteousness (while avoiding piety) … This is really a collection of the funniest dispatches from her first school year … it’s told with elegant precision and Nilsson has a peculiar power to make you remember exactly what it was like to be small, fierce, disempowered and six”
Kirkus Reviews –
A young mischief-maker manages to get herself out of mishaps. Six-year-old Hattie lives with her loving parents in a red house in Sweden. Their town is “far out in the middle of nowhere.” Hattie loves that she’s started school. She rides on the bus, does well, and makes friends. Each brief chapter in this gently comical novel describes various escapades Hattie gets up to, often alone, sometimes with her best pal. Readers will be intrigued by Hattie’s adventures and will note that each one offers a glimpse into her conscience and lively, persevering personality. Not coincidentally, the incidents advance Hattie’s character development, though she remains a child her age. Like most kids, Hattie can be peevish, has a playful, creative imagination, enjoys testing her limits, and doesn’t usually foresee or understand the consequences of impulsivity. Still, when events don’t conclude the way she’d hoped or planned, Hattie gets sad, angry, or annoyed with herself, learning lessons probably no grown-ups could teach better. Readers will note Hattie’s rarely scolded; however, adults are often oblivious to her activities, and she does chide herself. This fast-paced, amusing charmer, with clipped sentences that promote quick reading, is a Swedish import via New Zealand and offers interesting insight into some Nordic customs. Loose black-line illustrations add humor and suggest that all characters are white. An interview with the author appears in the backmatter. Readers will appreciate getting to know Hattie. (Fiction. 7-10)