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Children of the Soil: A Story of Scandinavia
An early Newbery Honor Book, telling the story of two Swedish children and their folk beliefs.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1932
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
February 18, 2020
Everything about this 1933 Newbery Honor book is earthy: the characters and setting, Edgar Parin d'Aulaire's illustrations, and the title, Children of the Soil: A Story of Scandinavia. It features Sweden's poor farming class, children who expect nothing from life but hard work and are surprised by every blessing that comes their way. Guldklumpen is a young boy, in second grade. His sister Nicolina is a bit older, and the two get along well under the stern yet loving guidance of their mother, Olina. Her husband left some time ago and no one knows if he's alive or dead, but the family manages without him. The gentry class views this unassuming family as nothing but a trio of "crofters", but Olina isn't without ambition, and her tenacious son and daughter don't feel sorry for themselves. Children of the Soil is a series of episodes illustrating what life is like for this family of Swedish farmers, tiny windows into their experience for those who have never lived a day like Guldklumpen and his sister. It's an enlightening story.
Swedish lore tells of the tomte, an elf man who brings good luck to humans he chooses to live near. Guldklumpen wants some magic for his family, so he and Nicolina fix up a miniature home to attract a tomte. For the rest of the book, Guldklumpen attributes every positive occurrence to the elf man he believes has moved in. Honest labor and ingenuity eventually provide the young blond Swede the perfect birthday gift for his overworked mother. Other shrewd dealings allow the two kids to acquire ducks and chickens for their farm, prized commodities for non-gentry folk. Guldklumpen and Nicolina's goal is to save enough kroner to buy a cow, but that could take years. A farm worthy of admiration should have a cow that produces milk, but will that dream ever be realized?
Guldklumpen has problems at school with Aspen, a bully who eschews education and enjoys hurting younger kids. Guldklumpen is smarter and more virtuous even if Aspen is wealthy; he'll get the better of most of their encounters. Christmas is filled with surprises for Olina's two children; never again will Guldklumpen question doing the right thing when he sees how the Yule tomte rewards him. Guldklumpen and Nicolina continue saving to buy a cow. Nicolina sees an opportunity to win ten kroner in a weaving contest, but her entry loses to the inferior work of a gentry girl. Will a lower-class child like Nicolina ever be treated fairly? Guldklumpen enters a skiing contest which can't be rigged to favor the rich, but Aspen tries to get revenge on him for past incidents. Guldklumpen skis away unharmed, while Aspen doesn't escape the backlash of his own malice. Nicolina would love a similar shining moment for herself, but she dreads doing another weaving competition after the debacle last time. Perhaps not every contest is tilted in favor of the upper class...and Nicolina might be due a double payout that could purchase more than just a cow. Through the highs and lows, Guldklumpen, Nicolina, and Olina's situation improves, but they themselves don't really change. They're the same close family looking to a better future one simple day at a time, content for now with the modest pleasures of the crofter class. It's an example worth taking to heart.
There's nothing sensational about this novel. The only element that commends it for a Newbery Honor is its reminder that happiness bears little relation to money or prestige; gratitude for however much or little you have is the ticket to contentment. Guldklumpen and Nicolina attend school with gentry kids who aren't as happy as their crofter classmates. Fidelity to wholesome values does wonders for one's outlook, and Olina's family does not stray from this. Why should Guldklumpen and his sister go to school for years rather than work for money now? In their mother's words, "(I)t is better for young ones to have something in their heads than in their pockets." Knowing where to store up your treasure is wisdom, indeed, and it is our privilege to watch Olina's kids grow in wisdom all the time. I'd rate Children of the Soil two and a half stars, and I appreciate its down-to-earth message. I certainly learned from it.
Swedish lore tells of the tomte, an elf man who brings good luck to humans he chooses to live near. Guldklumpen wants some magic for his family, so he and Nicolina fix up a miniature home to attract a tomte. For the rest of the book, Guldklumpen attributes every positive occurrence to the elf man he believes has moved in. Honest labor and ingenuity eventually provide the young blond Swede the perfect birthday gift for his overworked mother. Other shrewd dealings allow the two kids to acquire ducks and chickens for their farm, prized commodities for non-gentry folk. Guldklumpen and Nicolina's goal is to save enough kroner to buy a cow, but that could take years. A farm worthy of admiration should have a cow that produces milk, but will that dream ever be realized?
Guldklumpen has problems at school with Aspen, a bully who eschews education and enjoys hurting younger kids. Guldklumpen is smarter and more virtuous even if Aspen is wealthy; he'll get the better of most of their encounters. Christmas is filled with surprises for Olina's two children; never again will Guldklumpen question doing the right thing when he sees how the Yule tomte rewards him. Guldklumpen and Nicolina continue saving to buy a cow. Nicolina sees an opportunity to win ten kroner in a weaving contest, but her entry loses to the inferior work of a gentry girl. Will a lower-class child like Nicolina ever be treated fairly? Guldklumpen enters a skiing contest which can't be rigged to favor the rich, but Aspen tries to get revenge on him for past incidents. Guldklumpen skis away unharmed, while Aspen doesn't escape the backlash of his own malice. Nicolina would love a similar shining moment for herself, but she dreads doing another weaving competition after the debacle last time. Perhaps not every contest is tilted in favor of the upper class...and Nicolina might be due a double payout that could purchase more than just a cow. Through the highs and lows, Guldklumpen, Nicolina, and Olina's situation improves, but they themselves don't really change. They're the same close family looking to a better future one simple day at a time, content for now with the modest pleasures of the crofter class. It's an example worth taking to heart.
There's nothing sensational about this novel. The only element that commends it for a Newbery Honor is its reminder that happiness bears little relation to money or prestige; gratitude for however much or little you have is the ticket to contentment. Guldklumpen and Nicolina attend school with gentry kids who aren't as happy as their crofter classmates. Fidelity to wholesome values does wonders for one's outlook, and Olina's family does not stray from this. Why should Guldklumpen and his sister go to school for years rather than work for money now? In their mother's words, "(I)t is better for young ones to have something in their heads than in their pockets." Knowing where to store up your treasure is wisdom, indeed, and it is our privilege to watch Olina's kids grow in wisdom all the time. I'd rate Children of the Soil two and a half stars, and I appreciate its down-to-earth message. I certainly learned from it.
December 21, 2011
This is one of the older Newbery Honor books, and one of the more enjoyable from its era. Brother and sister Guldklumpen and Nicolina live with their mother on a very poor farm in Sweden, but the children have great plans for their farm. The outcomes of their endeavors are rarely surprising, because all of the things these two work for come to fruition, but it is very enjoyable to see the children and their little farm thrive.
May 7, 2019
Burglon's book started at a 3 star Newbery selection and grew into a 4 star enjoyment. As an author, she was talented at interweaving the fictional story of two young crofter children in early twentieth-century Sweden with educational tidbits about old Scandinavian culture without seeming like lectures or losing the flow of her tale.
At 51 years, it was fun for me to learn about Christmas and Easter traditions I had never heard of - particularly the additional details about Saint Lucia Day, since that was important to my grandmother who I had not known.
These children were very poor, but their resourcefulness and industry lifted their whole family into better living. Yet, the book doesn't have an atmosphere of piety or smugness. The telling is such that you have no problem identifying with the children and walking right alongside them. Burglon even deftly leaves you with a couple of unanswered questions that leaves you wondering if there's a sequel you could pick up, without leaving you in any kind of lurch.
At 51 years, it was fun for me to learn about Christmas and Easter traditions I had never heard of - particularly the additional details about Saint Lucia Day, since that was important to my grandmother who I had not known.
These children were very poor, but their resourcefulness and industry lifted their whole family into better living. Yet, the book doesn't have an atmosphere of piety or smugness. The telling is such that you have no problem identifying with the children and walking right alongside them. Burglon even deftly leaves you with a couple of unanswered questions that leaves you wondering if there's a sequel you could pick up, without leaving you in any kind of lurch.
July 12, 2015
This is a story of a young brother and sister from either Central or Northern Sweden - hard to tell really. Their father is lost at sea, and so they are dirt poor. Then they believe an elf has come to live with them because of a nice little place they made for him in the barn and that this elf will bring them good luck.
Well, pretty much everything did go well for them after that. Even the one thing that didn't work out ended up getting them 15 times as much money as they lost. So yeah, everything works out well. The stories are fun and cute though, and they threw a lot of good Swedish culture and tradition, with explanations as to where the tradition came from, into the story.
However, I only gave this book 3 stars because it is lacking. The author sometimes dumbs things down a little bit, creating inaccuracies, and always at unnecessary times. For example, the author throws little footnotes here and there. In one of them they mentioned that a kilo was 2 pounds. Not about two pounds but exactly two pounds. Wrong. And at the end of the story the kids start naming their pets. The Swedish word for white is hvit, so they name their white cow Hvita. Seems appropriate. The Swedish word for black is svart, so they name their black cow Blacka. What the heck? They also name a pet Prancer, even though 'prance' is not a Swedish word at all. And the book sometimes just seems a little dumbed down in other ways too, but it's hard to exactly say why I feel this way. Just do.
Still, this is a good 3-star book and worth reading if you can actually find it. I needed inter-library loan. Don't know how I would have found it otherwise.
Well, pretty much everything did go well for them after that. Even the one thing that didn't work out ended up getting them 15 times as much money as they lost. So yeah, everything works out well. The stories are fun and cute though, and they threw a lot of good Swedish culture and tradition, with explanations as to where the tradition came from, into the story.
However, I only gave this book 3 stars because it is lacking. The author sometimes dumbs things down a little bit, creating inaccuracies, and always at unnecessary times. For example, the author throws little footnotes here and there. In one of them they mentioned that a kilo was 2 pounds. Not about two pounds but exactly two pounds. Wrong. And at the end of the story the kids start naming their pets. The Swedish word for white is hvit, so they name their white cow Hvita. Seems appropriate. The Swedish word for black is svart, so they name their black cow Blacka. What the heck? They also name a pet Prancer, even though 'prance' is not a Swedish word at all. And the book sometimes just seems a little dumbed down in other ways too, but it's hard to exactly say why I feel this way. Just do.
Still, this is a good 3-star book and worth reading if you can actually find it. I needed inter-library loan. Don't know how I would have found it otherwise.
August 15, 2018
3.75 stars. I confess a bit of surprise that I enjoyed this book as much as I did. It is the story of two siblings, Nicolina (Lina) and her younger brother Guldklumpen, as they help their mother Olina on a small tenant farm in Sweden - father has gone to sea and is presumed lost. Best guess of their age is 8/9 and 6/7. The action takes place over a year as the children work on the farm (and other farms), go to market in the city by themselves, go to school,go ice fishing and Christmas tree hunting, and dream of having a cow. Over the course of the book, the mother tells them various folk tales and explains about the old Norse ways and how they were integrated into Scandinavian Christianity. The author is from Minnesota and is of Swedish descent so there appears to be a ring of truth. In addition to describing the kids' various plans to get ahead and get that cow, the author obliquely discusses the unfairness of wealth and poverty. Time after time Olina's kids show that they are as worthy as (and often better than) any landlord's kids. I wish this was more widely available (but it's out of print) because it would be excellent material for extra credit for students who have helicopter parents and those for whom sweeping the floor would be unusual. I read this for my 2018 Reading Challenge and my Newbery Challenge (Honor Book 1933).
January 28, 2018
TITLE: Children of the Soil
WHY I CHOSE THIS BOOK: It is a Newbery Honor book and fit into my reading challenge published in 1932 like the previous book
REVIEW: I just found this book so delightful. It takes place in Sweden and I learned some new things about that country such as it used to be Catholic and why they eat Gifelta (sp?) fish. The brother and sister at the heart of the story are both ordinary and entertaining. Like typical kids they can be naive, selfish, easily distracted. But they also have big hearts, are capable of great courage and can be very inventive. All their adventures to better their situation and to enjoy life are fun to read about. Although I did find their imprisonment of a mother duck and her ducklings was so sad. This book brings up questions of class, and poverty in a way that has truth to it but doesn't drag you into the pit to understand about it. This is not a gritty modern story but an early 20th century book trying to deal with some serious issues.
WHY I CHOSE THIS BOOK: It is a Newbery Honor book and fit into my reading challenge published in 1932 like the previous book
REVIEW: I just found this book so delightful. It takes place in Sweden and I learned some new things about that country such as it used to be Catholic and why they eat Gifelta (sp?) fish. The brother and sister at the heart of the story are both ordinary and entertaining. Like typical kids they can be naive, selfish, easily distracted. But they also have big hearts, are capable of great courage and can be very inventive. All their adventures to better their situation and to enjoy life are fun to read about. Although I did find their imprisonment of a mother duck and her ducklings was so sad. This book brings up questions of class, and poverty in a way that has truth to it but doesn't drag you into the pit to understand about it. This is not a gritty modern story but an early 20th century book trying to deal with some serious issues.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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October 22, 201476627916-a495-47ea-ab68-405d422e1bf8
June 17, 2016
A lovely gentle story of making the best of being poor. Set in Sweden and includes folk lore and perseverance.
August 8, 2017
This book is great because i thought its all about some kind of tale but its actually told about the literal thing that happened there
November 12, 2017
Two poor children in Norway struggle to save up enough money to buy a cow for their mother's farm.
Seems typical of the age, and a little too saccharine for me.
Seems typical of the age, and a little too saccharine for me.
July 13, 2018
Read the full review here: http://newberyandbeyond.com/newbery-r...
May 2, 2023
This was a fine story. It had good pacing, and was interesting.
Want to Read
June 13, 20251933 Newbery honor book
September 27, 2024
I really enjoyed this. Nicolina and Guldklumpen live with their mother, Olina, in Sweden. They don't know if their father is still at sea or has died. They are very poor, but they work extremely hard against difficult circumstances in order to earn enough kroner for cows, which makes their lives better because now they have more to eat and a way to plow the soil to plant potatoes. Their lives aren't always fair, like when Nicolina makes a beautiful tapestry but loses a contest because she is in the poor class of crofters. But they persevere. I love the work ethic!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews