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The Children of Noisy Village

(Barnen i Bullerbyn #1)

Astrid Lindgren,

Ilon Wikland (Illustrator),

Florence Lamborn (Translator)

4.30 · Rating details · 11,088 ratings · 390 reviews

Welcome to Noisy Village! Go crayfishing in the summer at Nocken, "dipping in the pot" at Christmastime with Lisa and Karl, and join Britta and Anna who know the best way to go about "nutting" for the New Year. In this gently humorous tale, master storyteller Astrid Lindgren takes us through a year in the lives and customs of six Swedish children living on a group of three ...more

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Paperback, 128 pages

Published February 2nd 1988 by Puffin Books (first published 1946)

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· 11,088 ratings · 390 reviews

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Mar 21, 2019 Evgeny rated it it was amazing

Shelves: children

I can say that I had a happy childhood. Not perfect, but happy. One of the reasons for this (a minor reason, but still) was that my parents bought me this book. The story is simple: once upon a time there was a tiny Swedish village called Bullerby (Noisy) consisting of three houses.
Village

In one house lived the heroine called Lisa with two brothers, in another house there lived two sisters, and in the last one there was a boy. From my understanding the difference between the oldest of the six kids and I can say that I had a happy childhood. Not perfect, but happy. One of the reasons for this (a minor reason, but still) was that my parents bought me this book. The story is simple: once upon a time there was a tiny Swedish village called Bullerby (Noisy) consisting of three houses.
Village

In one house lived the heroine called Lisa with two brothers, in another house there lived two sisters, and in the last one there was a boy. From my understanding the difference between the oldest of the six kids and the youngest was two years. The book is about these six kids.

You cannot find any coming of age development in the book, no deep philosophical thoughts, no preaching, and no lessons. Just kids living together, having fun, working, going to school, and having a friendly (and 'friendly' is the keyword here) rivalry between boys and girls. Some of their adventures are just interesting, some very interesting, and some laugh-out-loud funny. I challenge anybody to read a chapter called "Our Way Home from School" and not to crack a smile at least once. I still laugh reading it.

In other words, like practically everything Astrid Lindgren wrote, the book is good. Very good. Excellent even if you managed to read it in your childhood. Let me give you an idea. These pesky scientists came up with the term googol: it is a very large number equal to the 10 to power 100. In other words digit 1 followed by hundred zeroes.
googol

Everything is nice and great, but it turned out the number of elementary particles in the universe is lower (refer to Wikipedia if you do not believe me). So we have a number, but nothing to use it on. However I have a suggestion. This number is roughly the same as the number of times I read this book. It is this good.

What is not good is the English translation (at least US one). I can understand Bullerby being translated into Noisy. What is bizarre is the need for translation of the names. I can somewhat understand Lizzie becoming Lisa. Bosse became Bill - at least the first letters are the same. Can somebody tell me what one need to smoke (or inhale, or inject - depending on one's preferences) to turn Lasse into Karl??? I am sure the stuff was very potent.

So the book is great; 5 firm stars. The English translation is subpar; especially avoid the one done by Florence Lamborn. Obviously the best way to read it is in original language - for the lucky people that know Swedish.
Swedish Chief

Russian translation is good enough as well. I have no idea about the other languages. ...more

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Mar 25, 2018 Julie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorite-books-for-elementary-age, swedish-meatballs

Astrid Lindgren had a penchant for married men and story-telling, and I would have pushed people out of my way to get closer to her at a dinner party.

Ms. Lindgren's writing always pulls you in and tells you who's boss, even if it hides behind an illustrated cover and looks like it was meant for kids.

And, let me tell you, if my kids had lost interest this week in this “kids' read” The Children of Noisy Village (they didn't), I would have continued reading it on my own. Absolutely.

In fact, when my ...more

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Mar 06, 2016 Ivonne Rovira rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: readers of all ages

Shelves: children-literature, favorites, children-classics

Save this book in the Audible format until you’re sick, deathly sick. Especially if you’re separated from your mother — either by distance or death — so that she is not available to feed you homemade soup, tuck you into bed, and otherwise coddle you and read you a story. The Children of Noisy Village makes a nice substitute when you’re ailing.

The six children of Noisy Village — 9-year-old Lisa; her mischievous older brothers, Karl and Bill; and neighbors Anna, Britta, and Olaf — don’t live in an ...more

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Feb 14, 2016 Manybooks rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: translations, book-reviews, favourites-read, childrens-literature, astrid-lindgren

Indeed and truly, the Noisy Village series (actually the German language translations of Astrid Lindgren's original Swedish text, and where the hamlet is known as Bullerbü) was one of my absolute favourites when I was a little girl (and I must have read all three books at least ten times, and that is at best a rather conservative estimate). And at that age (from about the age of seven to ten) I just felt and knew on a purely emotional and personal level that I absolutely adored the sweet and enc Indeed and truly, the Noisy Village series (actually the German language translations of Astrid Lindgren's original Swedish text, and where the hamlet is known as Bullerbü) was one of my absolute favourites when I was a little girl (and I must have read all three books at least ten times, and that is at best a rather conservative estimate). And at that age (from about the age of seven to ten) I just felt and knew on a purely emotional and personal level that I absolutely adored the sweet and enchanting episodical nuggets of a generally carefree childhood in a turn of the century Swedish village (actually, even less than a village, but really just three interconnected farms). But now, after recently rereading this here omnibus of all of the Bullerbü stories (and for the first time in decades), I can absolutely and totally appreciate and understand both emotionally and academically, stylistically, how simply wonderful the first-person narrative of seven year old Lisa really is, as Astrid Lindgren has so perfectly captured the innocent, but also astute voice of an imaginative and observant child (Lisa shines, and from her, emanates a magic that makes everything in Bullerbü sparkle with sweetness and light).

However, although Die Kinder aus Bullerbü (and yes, in the English translations, Bullerbü is indeed known as Noisy Village) thus still remains and will always remain a total personal favourite, I am also by no means blind and deaf to the fact that there are also some need to be discussed issues and potential problems with Die Kinder aus Bullerbü, such as for example the rather unfortunate and salient fact that the children of Bullerbü, and especially the three boys, are constantly and joyfully playing Indian (a tendency of especially older adventure and nostalgia based children's literature which is often and with much justification regarded as profoundly anathema by many Native Americans and Canadians). And while even as a child, these episodes always did feel mildly uncomfortable, they also did not bother me all that much either, but they certainly do quite massively grate and chafe now. Now I do realise that these stories, that these anecdotal episodes were all written in the 1940s (and that the concept of playing Cowboys and Indians was a common and accepted trend and theme in European children's literature, and is actually still much more commonplace and accepted than in North America), but I do still cringe a bit and even feel a trifle guilty.

And yes, if were in this day and age reading the Bullerbü series with or to children, I would most definitely be discussing this (to me important) scenario, especially with regard to that one scene in Die Kinder aus Bullerbü where the children are pretending that the family cows are an opposing Native American tribe (as that does really feel insulting to Native Americans and Canadians). However, and for me happily and appreciatively, at least in the German translations, these episodes have all been retained, to be discussed as necessary, unlike in the American "Noisy Village" translations, where they have seemingly been redacted altogether, understandable perhaps, but also both unfortunate and even rather unacceptable, as for one, these episodes are an integral part of the original plot and storyline and as already briefly pointed out, for two, also lead themselves very well to discussions and considerstions as to what constitutes so called political correctness (and whether inclusiveness and cultural understanding could even be achieved by simply removing, expurging words, scenes, themes now deemed possibly or probably offensive from older and more dated children's books, as really, removing such content could actually and easily be painting, showing an erroneous portrait of the past, of the world when the given book, in this case, the Bullerbü trilogy, was first published). ...more

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Aug 28, 2017 Hilary rated it it was amazing

Shelves: female-author-or-illustrator, friendship, family-stories, outdoor-play

I loved this account of day to day Swedish life. Asrid Lindgren captures perfectly the relationship between friends and the rivalry between brother and sister. We loved the details of games played, dens built and festivals celebrated. We really didn't like Tony Ross's illustrations, their modern style just didn't suit the traditional nature of the stories.

We love Bullerby, we would happily move there tomorrow and if that wasn't possible would happily read this book again and imagine! ...more

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Dec 07, 2009 Manybooks rated it it was ok

Shelves: childrens-literature, translations, astrid-lindgren, book-reviews

The Noisy Village series (well actually, the German language translation of Astrid Lindgren's original Swedish text, and where the hamlet is known as Bullerbü) was one of my absolute favourites when I was a little girl (I must have read all three books at least ten times, and that is a conservative estimate). At that age (from about age six to age nine or ten) I just felt and knew on a purely emotional and personal level that I absolutely adored the sweet and enchanting episodical nuggets of car The Noisy Village series (well actually, the German language translation of Astrid Lindgren's original Swedish text, and where the hamlet is known as Bullerbü) was one of my absolute favourites when I was a little girl (I must have read all three books at least ten times, and that is a conservative estimate). At that age (from about age six to age nine or ten) I just felt and knew on a purely emotional and personal level that I absolutely adored the sweet and enchanting episodical nuggets of carefree childhood in a turn of the century Swedish village (actually, even less than that, but really just three interconnected farms). Now, after recently rereading (and again in German) for the first time in decades, I can truly appreciate and understand both emotionally and academically, stylistically, how simply wonderful the first-person narrative of seven year old Lisa really is. Astrid Lindgren has so perfectly captured the innocent, but also astute voice of an imaginative and observant child (Lisa shines, and from her, emanates a magic that makes everything in Bullerbü sparkle with sweetness and light).

With such a glowing preamble, why then only two stars for this English language translation, for The Children of Noisy Village? It has NOTHING to do with the story, with the general themes presented, and EVERYTHING to do with Florence Lamborn's woefully inadequate translation, or rather what has been changed and is missing in said translation. Not only are the episodes themselves arranged rather haphazardly, there are anecdotes in the first book (in this book, in this translation) that in the German editions I read (and likely also in the Swedish originals, but that is speculation on my part) appear in books two and three. But even MORE of an issue is the fact that there are numerous chapters which do not appear at all, which have seemingly been entirely omitted (expunged) by the translator. And that, at least for me, is not only flabbergasting but also totally unacceptable, and for me, a massive insult to both Astrid Lindgren and her legacy as an author. And thus, I firmly believe that it is high time for a new English language translation of the Noisy Village series, namely one that keeps to the original, and does not arbitrarily omit entire chapters! ...more

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Apr 18, 2009 Cindi rated it it was amazing

Shelves: series, humor, 2009, historical-fiction, family

Sheer delight. Seriously. I'm not sure when I've read a children's book that was so delightful. I found this book in "A Landscape with Dragons." The author called it the Little House on the Prairie of Sweden.

I had to keep stopping to read sections to whoever in my family would listen to me. See for yourself:

Mommy says she can't understand why it takes more than twice as long to walk home as it does to walk to school. I don't understand it either. But it just can't be helped.

As we were walking al ...more

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Nov 18, 2015 Katy Noyes rated it it was amazing

100 pages of nostalgia from the author of Pippi Lockstocking. The children of Noisy Village are six children living on three adjacent farms in a hamlet in Sweden.

One of them narrates these short tales from their year - from making maps and caves in the hayloft in the summer to struggling through miles of snow to get home at Christmas.

The boys and girls are fairly typical - they like adventures and playing pretend, picking strawberries, dressing up, sometimes they prefer to play apart, but they ...more

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Jan 11, 2016 Jessica rated it really liked it

Shelves: own, read-aloud, middle-grade, scandinavian-authors

I had never read this book before, in fact: I'd never heard of it until a few months ago. It's a sweet little book, about the lives of a group of children who live on three neighboring farms. It's written in a very simple style, ostensibly by one of the children, Lisa, who describes different traditions and aspects of their life. This would be a great first chapter book. It's 123 pages, with illustrations in each short chapter. ...more

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Mar 04, 2012 Jaimie Franchi rated it really liked it

My six year old and I are having fun with this one so far.

Update: As a read-aloud, it's probably three stars, but I think for an eight year old reading it to herself, it would be a four. From a parent's perspective, it's full of wholesome fun and adventures. I did enjoy reading about the Swedish holiday traditions. ...more

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Feb 11, 2013 Catherine rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical, childrens-chapter, small-town

When I first brought this book home from the library (based entirely on GR reviews), my 6-year-old son said it looked "lame." However...after I persisted in reading the first few chapters, he was completely won over. This is the charming story of a year in Noisy Village (really just a cluster of three small farms), in long ago Sweden. 1920s? They travel by foot or occasionally horse-drawn sled, but I think there might be mention of a truck. The Children of the title are three girls and three boy ...more

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Jul 16, 2007 Dita rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, bestread

Bullerbyn kids series were the books I really fond of when I was a little kido. And the memories never fade away. I read this thousand times and will remember the laughters. All of the kids are cheerful, smart, witty, caring, adventurous and humble at once.

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Dec 22, 2008 Anna rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, read-in-2009

This is as lovely as I remember it being. A cute, light-hearted bunch of stories about kids growing up in Sweden. My mom used to read the Polish version to me when I was a kid. Definitely something I could see myself reading to my future children.

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May 06, 2020 Issac rated it liked it

eh it was alright

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Apr 06, 2017 Luisa Knight rated it it was amazing

Shelves: family-read-aloud, children, own

Cleanliness

Children's Bad Words
Mild Obscenities & Substitutions - 1 Incident: d*rned
Name Calling - 7 Incidents: draggletail, impossible brats, stupid, brat, tattletale, stupid
Religious Profanity - 2 Incidents: My goodness, thank goodness

Religious & Supernatural - None
Violence - None

Romance Related - 1 Incident: Siblings tease, chanting, "Boyfriend and girlfriend." (no one is dating)

Attitudes/Disobedience - 2 Incidents: When her brothers don't want her playing with them, the older brother will ho Cleanliness

Children's Bad Words
Mild Obscenities & Substitutions - 1 Incident: d*rned
Name Calling - 7 Incidents: draggletail, impossible brats, stupid, brat, tattletale, stupid
Religious Profanity - 2 Incidents: My goodness, thank goodness

Religious & Supernatural - None
Violence - None

Romance Related - 1 Incident: Siblings tease, chanting, "Boyfriend and girlfriend." (no one is dating)

Attitudes/Disobedience - 2 Incidents: When her brothers don't want her playing with them, the older brother will hold is sister and then run away quickly so she can't follow. "Boys are such a nuisance." At school, "When the boys have nothing else to do they fight, and during class they get into all kinds of mischief."

Conversation Topics - 5 Incidents: Mentions that the children tell each other ghost stories (a few times throughout). Mentions Santa Claus a few times (the children no longer believe in him). Mentions a prince who was possibly bewitched. Children pretend the maid is a witch and run from her. Children reference goblins.

Parent Takeaway
The children that live in the village all get along (there are a couple of incidents where they don't, but they make up). It's a fun story of the children's adventures on the farm, at school, their holiday celebrations and time spent with their grandfather whom they love dearly.

**Like my reviews? Then you should follow me! Because I have hundreds more just like this one. With each review, I provide a Cleanliness Report, mentioning any objectionable content I come across so that parents and/or conscientious readers (like me) can determine beforehand whether they want to read a book or not. Content surprises are super annoying, especially when you’re 100+ pages in, so here’s my attempt to help you avoid that!

So Follow or Friend me here on GoodReads! You’ll see my updates as I’m reading and know which books I’m liking and what I’m not finishing and why. You’ll also be able to utilize my library for looking up titles to see whether the book you’re thinking about reading next has any objectionable content or not. From swear words, to romance, to bad attitudes (in children’s books), I cover it all!
...more

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Apr 07, 2015 Pam rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mommy-s-shelf

This book was excellent and confirms what I thought after I read Ronia the Robber's Daughter...which is that Astrid Lindgren is a wonderful author. The language in this book is totally different than in that book, because this book is told in the voice of the little girl, Lisa, who is the main character. The words are simple, but meaningful and capture her experiences just right! In Ronia, the story is told in the 3rd person and uses a different, more adult style of writing that worked beautiful ...more

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Jan 28, 2016 Colette rated it really liked it

Shelves: children, children-s-books, books-2016, swedish

As a child, this book was a favorite after discovering it in 3rd grade. I discovered it again, years later, in the English language section of a bookshop in Stuttgart, Germany. Now, I'm pleased to find it again in yet another phase of life. When rereading childhood favorites, I'm always a bit nervous that they won't hold up. I was not disappointed. The Children of Noisy Village is just as delightful and happily nostalgic as it always was. I'm happy to have found it again at the library (the shod ...more

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Jun 20, 2015 Siskiyou-Suzy rated it it was ok

Shelves: young-children-0-6, fiction, older-children-6-10, translation, europe, holidays

There is a lot of gender issues here. I had to stop reading to explain to the kids that it's silly to think only boys get in trouble or that boys should play with boys and girls with girls. The kids in my class just don't think like that -- they rarely even discuss boys and girls being different, so I don't like seeing that encouraged. That's one of the bad things about sweet, old children's books -- they shove gender right in your face. ...more

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Apr 15, 2016 Eva Stachniak rated it it was amazing

Read and re-read in my childhood! I still have a copy of it on "my beloved books shelf." I don't know what attracted me to it. The community of the children, their simple adventures, the rivalry between girls and boys. Whatever it was, the memory of my delight is still strong.... ...more

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Apr 27, 2017 Kerstin rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, children-and-young-adult

Absolutely delightful!

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Sep 02, 2020 Davina rated it it was amazing

Reading wholesome Astrid Lindgren books together with my two young boys feels like a major parenting win. This esteemed author holds a special place in my heart because of her Pippi Longstocking books and Mio, My Son which were childhood favorites of mine. I was delighted to discover The Children of Noisy Village and the sequel, Happy Times in Noisy Village and am happy to say that they did not disappoint. Lately, on road trips with my two and six year old, they're just as happy to have me read ...more

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May 18, 2017 Daniel and Rebekah Eikum rated it it was amazing

I read this with Gwen (6yo) and it was pure fun! It's about a girl, Lisa, who lives in a little farm town in Sweden. She has many adventures with her friends. I liked learning about the Swedish holiday celebrations. Seeing them through Lisa's eyes was sweet and Gwen could totally relate. I laughed so hard at the chapter about "helping people." ...more

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Apr 08, 2018 Melissa McAlvey rated it really liked it

Shelves: chapter-books-to-read-aloud, kids

I am probably rating this one more for me than Norah. I have always adored Pippi Longstocking, but hadn't read this one before. not as many pictures as Captain Underpants, but it still held her interest enough to be a good read aloud while she colored or ate lunch, etc. It helped that two characters are named Anna and Olaf. ;)

I thought it was a sweet read that reminded me of the Little House books ...more

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Aug 09, 2017 A Severs rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Amusing short stories providing an insight into the life of children in rural Sweden at some point in the past. Lots of launchpads for further exploration into Swedish traditions. Great for year 3 children - I'll be recommending it to my 7 year old! ...more

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May 15, 2020 Emma M. rated it really liked it

This was such a cute, fun read aloud. I love that each chapter is essentially a short story with the same characters and setting. I think that helped the kids enjoy it that much more.

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Nov 16, 2020 Toby Chapman rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction

Great /good 👍

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Nov 18, 2019 Rachel rated it it was amazing

Sweet, short read aloud with my girls.

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Jun 22, 2020 Guilherme Semionato rated it really liked it

Very soothing, so much lovelier (and, bless this, quieter) than the exhausting PIPPI series. I read the 2014 Oxford University Press edition, apparently the translation is faithful to the original.

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Dec 18, 2020 Eva rated it liked it

Very 'Mitchell family'-esque snapshot of life in a Swedish village. ...more

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Mar 02, 2017 Eric Hinkle rated it really liked it

Such a charming book. I wish I had grown up in Noisy Village instead of the boring suburbs. I would've been a different person, I do believe!

A true classic. ...more

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topics	posts	views	last activity
What's the Name o...: SOLVED. Young Historical fiction - Scandinavian (probably Swedish) Laura Ingalls Wilder lives with family, has brothers, read in 1979 from a school library in English. [s]	9	511	Sep 27, 2020 04:12PM
Goodreads Librari...: Better cover	4	188	May 09, 2017 02:48AM
What's the Name o...: SOLVED. The Six Bullerby Kids - The Children of Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren [s]	12	151	Jun 27, 2013 08:22AM

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About Astrid Lindgren

Astrid Lindgren

2,768 followers

Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren, née Ericsson, (1907 - 2002) was a Swedish children's book author and screenwriter, whose many titles were translated into 85 languages and published in more than 100 countries. She has sold roughly 165 million copies worldwide. Today, she is most remembered for writing the Pippi Longstocking books, as well as the Karlsson-on-the-Roof book series.

Awards:
Hans Christian A ...more