This is the Google image that popped up this morning. Every Swede knows this character, Nils Holgersson, and it's author Selma Lagerlöf. Today, November 20th, 2013, marks Lagerlöf's 155th birthday (or födelsedag).
The two book series' title that correlates with this adorable illustration is Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige, which translates into Nils Holgersson's Wonderful Journey through Sweden. [Notice the svenska (Swedish language) lack of capitalization and punctuation.]
The series has been used for decades as a reader in Swedish geography. It is about Nils Holgersson, who gets turned into a leprechaun (because he is naughty and mean to animals) and travels throughout Sweden on a goose's back. The books have been translated into many languages, and until Astrid Lindgren's Pippi Longstocking, it had been the most widely translated Swedish (children's?) book, at over 60 languages.
Selma Lagerlöf (1858- 1940), in 1909, became the first woman and the first Swede awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.
The pictures below are of the 20 kroner bill (~$3).
I told you she and Nils are popular!
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