About Emil in Lönneberga
Even if five-year-old Emil looks angelic, everybody knows he’s wild and stubborn, and gets up to more mischief than there are days in the year. He’s a clever and curious scatterbrain with an amazing gift for turning his God-fearing and respectable community in the county of Småland upside down.
Emil’s mischiefs are always hilarious and never mean. His wild ideas generally stem from his kind and caring personality. He can’t stand to see others sufer and will do anything to help. Emil has only good intentions, but acts of his own accord without due regard for social hierarchy or grown-up authority. He’s a streetwise farm boy and, unlike the people of Lönneberga, the reader is aware that one day he will make a success out of his life and shine in the role of Chairman of the local government.
©The Astrid Lindgren Company /Björn Berg/Bildmakarna Berg
Astrid LindgrenThe author
Astrid Lindgren (1907-2002) is one of Sweden’s most beloved and wellknown authors, and her works bring joy to children and adults worldwide. Her contribuGons are unique and significant and cannot be overstated. She was a commiJed humanist, and fought for children’s rights, equality, and animal welfare - but it’s as a writer of children’s books that she is most known. Astrid wrote 34 chapter books and 41 picture books in total that all together have sold around 200 million copies and have been translated into more than 100 languages.
“Do you know what Emil in Lönneberga once did?”, Astrid suddenly asked her three-year-old grandchild who was screaming his head of. Karl Johan went quiet, because he was rather keen to know what Emil had done.
Björn BergThe illustrator
Astrid Lindgren personally selected Björn Berg (1923-2008) to illustrate the books about Emil in Lönneberga. During the summer of 1963, Småland served as the studio, background material, and inspiraGon for Berg. The intense weeks passed as he produced 100 ink drawings in Gme for the delivery ahead of that autumn's book release, which led to success.
Björn Berg grew up in New York. He was influenced by Walt Disney's characters and style in the early 1930s, and later studied art in Paris and Stockholm. Berg worked as an illustrator for the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter for over 40 years, collaboraGng and travelling with different journalists, and received several awards for his work. In addiGon to Emil in Lönneberga, Berg also became known for illustraGng Teskedsgumman (Mrs. Pepperpot) and for his artwork in books and covers for other famous authors.
“Even before she had finished writing the first book, Astrid had decided that I was going to illustrate Emil. I think it was on a Christmas Day that she rang and read out the first chapter, and my wife commented that it sounded just like our son, Torbjörn. So, in many ways, he came to be a model for Emil.”
- Björn Berg
Won a Swedish Grammy in the category
Children’s Music of the Year 2024
Adapted into 4 films
First published in 1963
Translated into more than 50 languages
Around 30 million copies sold
Original illustrations by Björn Berg Celebrated 60 year anniversary in 2023
7 Picture books
3 Chapter books
The Books
The books about Emil have been translated into 53 languages and have sold around 30 million copies, o`en published with the fantasGc original illustraGons. The Emil books are conGnuously released in new ediGons and prinGngs in the Nordic neighboring countries, as well as in Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, and other countries in Europe. The Småland sebng where Emil grows up, which we perceive as so genuinely Swedish, shares much in common with rural condiGons all over the world.
Core Values
Inventive and enterprising
Kind-hearted
Headstrong and stubborn
Shows & exhibitions
Astrid Lindgren’s World
Astrid Lindgren’s World is a theme & theatre park in Vimmerby, Sweden with over 500,000 visitors each summer. Here, children can visit and experience KaJhult where Emil is from, see theater shows and meet the characters from the stories.
Junibacken
Junibacken is a children's aJracGon in Stockholm with over 450,000 visitors annually. The Story Train ride brings you straight into the magical world of Astrid Lindgren's books. You’ll meet Emil and Astrid’s other characters on an enchanGng journey.
60 year jubilee in 2023
Emil in Lönneberga turned 60 years in 2023. A celebraGon was held at Skansen in Stockholm in May of that year, with two days filled with fun acGviGes, like theatre performances, wood carving, games, and an old-fashioned aucGon, where the proceeds went to Save the Children.
There was also a televised concert featuring several beloved Swedish arGsts, such as Timbuktu, Amanda Bergman, and Jakob Hellman, who performed some of the songs from the stories about Emil.
The interpreted songs were featured in a tribute album, and it later won a Swedish Grammy in 2024 in the category of Children’s Music of the Year.
Listen to the album on SpoGfy
“S’not something you plan, mischief, it just happens. And knowing it’s mischief, well you don’t until it’s happened.”
Artwork Examples
©The Astrid Lindgren Company /Björn Berg/Bildmakarna Berg
©The Astrid Lindgren Company /Björn Berg/Bildmakarna Berg
Lindgren Company /Björn Berg/Bildmakarna Berg
Lindgren Company /Björn Berg/Bildmakarna Berg
Collaborations
Muurla
jenny.adamsson@rightsandbrands.com
Jenny Adamsson Brand Manager