astrid lindgren and ingrid vang nyman celebrates her birthday
celebrates her birthday
Translated by Susan Beard
One day Tommy and Annika found a letter in their letter box. TO TMMY AND ANIKER it said on the outside. And when they opened it, this is what it said:
Tmmy And AniK er must Kom e To Pippis Berthday paRty
To mmoro aftAnoon Dress: wa re wot you feel lik e .
Tommy and Annika were so happy that they started leaping and dancing about. They could read exactly what the letter said, even though the spelling was a little strange. Pippi had found it terribly hard to write. Naturally, she knew the letter ‘i’ from that day in school, but the truth was, she actually could do some writing.
During the time she was sailing the ocean, one of the sailors on her dad’s boat used to sit with her on the quarterdeck in the evenings, trying to teach her to write.
‘Tell you what, Fridolf,’ (that was the sailor’s name), ‘I don’t give two hoots about this reading lark. I’m off up the mast to see what the weather will be like tomorrow.’
That’s why it wasn’t strange that she found writing hard.
It took a whole night for her to write out that invitation and towards dawn, when the stars were fading above Villa Villekulla’s roof, she tiptoed over to Tommy and Annika’s house and put the letter in their letter box.
As soon as Tommy and Annika came home from school they started smartening themselves up for Pippi’s party. Annika asked her mum if she would curl her hair, so that’s what her mum did. She also tied a wide, pink, silk ribbon in Annika’s hair. Tommy combed his hair with water to make it really flat and shiny. He definitely didn’t want to be curly.
Annika wanted to put on her very best frock but her mum said it wasn’t worth it, because Annika rarely came home clean and tidy from Pippi’s house. So Annika had to content herself with her second-best frock. Tommy really didn’t mind what he put on as long as he was looking more or less smart.
It’s Pippi’s birthday, and she has invited Tommy and Annika to a party at Villa Villekulla. There are presents, plenty of cakes and biscuits, and steaming hot chocolate topped with fluffy whipped cream. Pippi’s parties are the best—especially when it’s time for games!
After a while, Pippi suggests that they explore the attic. Tommy and Annika hesitate. Not only is it dark and spooky, but according to Pippi, the attic is full of ghosts…
With Pippi, adventure is never far away!