Publication

Lindgren, Astrid

Stockholm : Rabén & Sjögren, 2003

Number of Pages

178

Language

Swedish

Publication Year

2003

Original Language

Swedish

Categories and Tags

Hardcover, Ex. Library Copy

Dewey Subjects

German and Germanic > Literature > Literature in other Germanic languages > Swedish literature > Swedish miscellany

About

Mio, My Son is a Swedish writer, Astrid Lindgren children’s book. It was first published in 1954 in Sweden with the Swedish title Mio, min Mio (literally “Mio, my Mio”). The writing is stylized, and the story is strongly reminiscent of traditional fairy tales and folklore. It received a German Youth Literature Prize (Deutschen Jugendbuchpreis) in 1956. The book is 204 pages long.

Mio, My Son introduces Bo Vilhelm Olsson (nicknamed Bosse), a nine-year-old boy taken in by an elderly couple who dislike boys. They harass him and tell him to stay out of their way. Bosse’s mother had died during childbirth, and he had never known his father. His only friend is a boy his age, Benke. One day he receives an apple from the kind shopkeeper, Mrs Lundin, who asks him to mail a postcard to her. Before doing so, he looks at the postcard and sees it is addressed to a king, saying that his son will soon be coming home, recognized by possessing a golden apple. Bosse looks at his apple, and suddenly it turns into gold.

Soon after, Bosse finds a bottle with a spirit trapped inside. Upon freeing it, the spirit recognizes the apple and takes Bosse to another world, far, far away.

Upon arriving, Bosse is told that his real name is Mio and that he is the king’s son and, thus, a prince of the land. He finds a new best friend, Jum-Jum, and receives the horse Miramis from his father. As he explores his father’s kingdom, he meets and befriends other children. However, he also learns that not everything is as excellent as it first seemed. In the lands beyond that of the king lives an evil, stone-hearted knight named Kato, whose hatred is so intense that the land around his castle is barren and singed. He has kidnapped several children from nearby villages and constantly threatens the people there.

Mio is told that his destiny is to fight Kato, even though he is only a child. Together with Jum-Jum and Miramis, Mio sets out on a perilous journey into the land of Kato, as the stories have foretold for thousands and thousands of years.

In the American version, Mio is first called Karl Anders Nilsson, nicknamed Andy, and Jum-Jum’s name is Pompoo.[

Location

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