Series: Hattie

Hattie is a street-smart country girl in her first year of school. She lives just outside of nowhere, right next to no one at all. Luckily she’s starting school and that brings new adventures. Hattie gets her first swimming badge, falls madly in love with a hermit crab and meets a best friend. Sometimes things go wrong—like when the hairdresser cuts her hair into stumps just in time for school photos. And while Hattie tries her best, it’s not always easy to be well behaved... Hattie is perfect for newly independent readers from Frida Nilsson, whose award-winning The Ice Sea Pirates was an international bestseller.

Hattie and Olaf

by Frida Nilsson

Published 1 August 2021

The warm-hearted follow-up story of audacious and captivating six-year-old Hattie, a modern-day Pippi Longstocking.

Hattie and best friend Linda navigate the social politics of their first school years in this funny illustrated chapter book for early readers. With all the humor, anarchy and energy of Pippi Longstocking, this is a perfect story of friendship and resilience for young independent readers.

Hattie wants a horse more than anything. Her friend Ellen has three ponies. When Hattie’s father finally comes home with a horse trailer, Hattie is ecstatic. But instead of a horse, out stomps Olaf—a donkey. Now Hattie not only has horse fever, she suddenly catches lying sickness as well.

Inclined to emotional storms and exaggeration—always with the best intentions—Hattie is the very true picture of the rebellious, overenthusiastic six-year-old in all of us.

“A sparkling story that honors the sensibilities and world of young schoolchildren.”—Kirkus Reviews

Hattie was selected as The Times Children’s Book of the Week.

Frida Nilsson is a leading Swedish author who has won numerous awards including the Astrid Lindgren Prize in 2014. Nilsson’s writing is characterized by humor and sincerity. She writes about the big questions in life—friendship, death and love—and has been compared to Roald Dahl and Astrid Lindgren.

Stina Wirsén is one of Sweden’s most popular and prolific children’s book illustrators.

Other books by Frida Nilsson:
Hattie
The Ice Sea Pirates

Praise for Hattie and Olaf
“Wirsén’s black-and-white illustrations are full of spark and life, complementing the story’s quirky aspect. A sparkling story that honors the sensibilities and world of young schoolchildren.”—Kirkus Reviews

"Hattie and Olaf is a heartwarming and hilarious addition to a series I love. I can’t wait to see what Frida Nilsson does next!"—Readings Bookshops

Praise for Hattie
“Hattie is from the Pippi Longstocking school of clever, anti-establishment little girls who have the capacity for misrule until their conscience kicks in, their hearts turn to fondant and they return to the path of righteousness (while avoiding piety) … This is really a collection of the funniest dispatches from her first school year … it’s told with elegant precision and Nilsson has a peculiar power to make you remember exactly what it was like to be small, fierce, disempowered and six”—The Times, Children’s Book of the Week