Pippi and Susan Marie Go to School Like the children’s book hero Pippi Longstocking, author/educator Susan Marie Swanson sallies forth to foster laughter, friendship and adventure. The long-running Pippi Project is a joint venture with two Minneapolis elementary schools and the American Swedish Institute (ASI). While the program will continue, Swanson recently announced her retirement from it. As we thank her for her work, the award-winning author is quick to credit the program’s success to the collaboration between the schools and ASI. Q to Susan Marie Swanson — How did this all get started? To mark the centennial of Astrid Lindgren’s birth, I started developing curriculum for teaching writing inspired by her work, and in May 2007, I traveled to Stockholm to present at the Astrid Lindgren Centennial Conference. I‘d already approached former ASI staffer Nina Clark, and that fall we launched our first Pippi residency. Since then, ASI staffers Ingrid Nyholm-Lange, Britta Walstrom and now Lindsey Tscherne, in addition to many educators, including “founding” teachers Becky Ramgren and
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The American Swedish Institute
Catherine Lee from Bancroft and Andersen schools, have helped the program thrive. Q to SMS — You describe the program as “bigger than you.” Why? The Pippi Project is grounded in collaborative relationships with Minneapolis Public School teachers and administrators. ASI staff and volunteers engage children in lively conversations about their writing. Our work succeeds because teachers make space, draw out our best, and encourage students to participate wholeheartedly. And the second and third-graders themselves are the heart of the program. The individual child is always more important than my lesson or their words on paper. Q to SMS — What can children can learn from Astrid Lindgren and Pippi? Writers learn how to write by reading. In the Pippi Project, we’ve got a concrete example. Pippi is a remarkable 9-year-old. She sewed her own dress and makes pancakes for her friends. She's the strongest girl in the world! The student’s characters, like Pippi, have interesting pets and
