Pippi Longstocking is a middle grade fiction novel written by Astrid Lindgren and originally published in Sweden in 1945. It was first translated into English and published in the United States in 1950. Pippi’s bold spirit and fiery nature were endearing and appealing in the post-war era and through many decades afterward. Her story illuminates the Imagination and Ingenuity of childhood, the Strength of Body and Mind embodied by young girls, and the importance of Living Every Day as a New Adventure. Lindgren wrote more than 100 works of various forms during her life and was awarded the Hans Christen Anderson Medal in 1958, the most prestigious award for a children’s author.

This guide refers to the 2005 Penguin Modern Classics edition of the novel. A more recent edition, the 2020 Puffin Modern Classics edition, has been edited for racial and cultural insensitivity and doesn’t contain some of the language discussed in this guide.

Content Warning: This guide contains references to racial stereotypes contained within the novel.

Plot Summary

Pippi Longstocking is a story about a girl who lives on her own and in her own way. Her mother died when she was a baby, and her father washed out at sea. Before he was lost, Pippi sailed the seas with him and his crew, seeing all sorts of places and collecting all sorts of treasures. She remains optimistic that her mother watches over her and believes that her father has become king of a cannibalistic island. Pippi moves into Villa Villekulla, a large house at the edge of a small town, which her father built before he was lost. From his ship, she takes enough gold to last a lifetime and her pet monkey, Mr. Nilsson. The first thing Pippi buys with her gold is a horse, which she is strong enough to lift. When Pippi appears in her garden one day, when she’s nine years old, her neighbors Tommy and Annika notice her eccentric hairstyle and clothing. They strike up a conversation and Pippi invites them over, at which time she makes them pancakes (along with a huge mess). Tommy and Annika wonder how Pippi can go without parents, but she says she knows how to take care of herself. Before they go, Pippi gifts her new friends a dagger and a treasure box and invites them back tomorrow.

The next day, Pippi takes Tommy and Annika out to find whatever they may find. They search the ground around the town, and Pippi takes note of a rusty can and an empty spool. When she sees a boy being bullied by five others across the street, Pippi intervenes, scolding the boys and then lifting each one into a tree. She points Tommy and Annika to a hollow inside a tree, and they pull out more rare treasures. A few days later, Pippi, Tommy, and Annika are having a picnic at Pippi’s house. Two police officers arrive and tell Pippi that the town has determined she cannot live on her own and must be taken to a children’s home, as well as attend school. Pippi’s response is to trick the officers into trapping themselves on the roof. She runs to the top and then jumps off and removes their ladder. Afterward, Pippi plops the men at the end of the street, and they never bother her again.

Tommy and Annika convince Pippi to attend school for a day despite her reluctance to do so after hearing about it from the police officers. Pippi hears about Christmas vacation and wants to have her own. At school, Pippi tries her best to behave and participate, but she goes overboard in her explanations, tells stories, and eventually gives up. Pippi doesn’t understand arithmetic and doesn’t recognize some letters, and when told to draw, she uses the floor as her canvas. The teacher takes Pippi aside and asks her to leave the school. Pippi explains that she doesn’t fit in at a place with such strict expectations because her life has never set her up to be that way. Before she goes, Pippi makes up a story about how learning is banned in Argentina and how all those who attempt to learn are punished. She rides away on her horse and doesn’t come back. Some days later, a girl passes by Villa Villekulla in search of her father and approaches Pippi. Pippi toys with the girl and makes up a story about a Chinese man with long ears. Afterward, she hosts a coffee party with Annika and Tommy up in a tree. There, they discover that the tree is hollow and makes for a great secret hideout. When Tommy and Annika have a day off school, the trio have a picnic out in the woods to enjoy the radiant fall day. When Mr. Nilsson wanders off, the kids go looking for him and find an angry bull instead. Defending Tommy from the bull, Pippi breaks off its horns and wrestles it until it tires. The kids walk away singing a joyful song about summertime. They find Mr. Nilsson in a tree.

When the circus comes to town, Pippi doesn’t understand what it is at first but is curious to find out what could be so amazing that people buy tickets to see it. Pippi, Tommy, and Annika set off with their money, buy their tickets, and sit down to wait for the show to begin. First, several horses trot around, and then a lady standing on top of a large black horse rides out. Pippi jumps on the horse with her. The crowd cheers, but neither the lady nor the ringmaster is pleased. Pippi infiltrates the tightrope act next, performing far more dangerous tricks than what the crowd is used to. Finally, Pippi fights the world’s strongest man and wins $100 without putting in much effort at all. She refuses the prize and goes back to her seat to take a nap. After the drama at the circus, everyone in town knows how strong Pippi is. Two men walk in from elsewhere with the intention of robbing some houses and come across Villa Villekulla first. Pippi invites them in and manages to scare them off at first, but they come back the same night and break in while Pippi is asleep. She wakes up, defends her gold loot against the burglars, and then ties them up. She frees them only under the promise that they will help her perfect her schottische dance, and she dances with them for hours before sending them on their way with a single coin each. Some days later, Pippi is invited to Tommy and Annika’s home for a coffee party. She does her best to dress nicely and hold back her nerves but makes her face up with crayon and needs to yell at herself just to get the courage to go inside. She sits down with Tommy and Annika’s mother and some other ladies and begins telling a story about a servant whose behavior seemed horrible because the servant was confused about what others expected of her. When Pippi is asked to leave because her behavior is inappropriate, she becomes distraught and feels like giving up on trying to learn how to get along with ordinary people.

One afternoon, Pippi takes her horse for a ride and comes across a huge fire burning in the new three-story building in town. The firefighters’ ladder isn’t long enough to reach the top window where two small boys cry out for help. Pippi loves the excitement of fire and wants to help, and with Mr. Nilsson’s assistance, she sets up a rope and board in a tree that allows her to reach the window. Pippi carries the boys out of the burning building and into the tree and then lowers them to the ground with the rope. She sings a song in celebration of the fire and appreciates the cheers from the townspeople. In the novel’s final scene, Pippi invites Tommy and Annika over for her birthday. She spends all night spelling out invitations for them, and they use their savings to buy her a music box. Pippi also gives Annika and Tommy their own gifts, proclaiming that her birthday is a day for everyone. She takes Tommy and Annika upstairs to see the attic and spooks them. Pippi then finds two pistols and shoots them into the ceiling before giving them to her friends. Crying out about her dreams of becoming a pirate someday, she takes up a sword in one hand and a pistol in the other and bids Annika and Tommy farewell for the night.