The Brothers Lionheart

What happens when I die? Will I be all alone? Where will mom and dad be when I die? Will they be sad? What will happen to me after I die? These are questions children wonder about. When my daughter was about 5-6 years old she kept talking about "the mysterious beyond" where you go after you die. We have no idea where she got this idea from.

In this book, Astrid Lindgren, the Swedish author who also wrote the Pippi Longstocking books, the Emil books and the "Children of Noisy Village" books, address these difficult questions. She does this without giving any definite answers and still she succeeds to give comfort to children via this exciting and beautiful "after death adventure". Astrid Lindgren's writing is very much in tuned with the feelings of children and the story is spell binding and well paced.

Briefly, Scotty (Skorpan in the Swedish version) is a ten year old boy who is very sick. Everyone knows that he is dying except himself. Then one day he finds out in a cruel but accidental turn of events that he is going to die. To comfort him his older brother Jonathan tells him a story about Nangiyala, the land of adventures that lies beyond the stars, where you go after you die. As it turns out Scotty will not be going to Nangiyala alone. In fact the tragic and short life of Scotty and Jonathan and the love they developed for each other during their earthly lives enabled them to be the heroes that Nangiyala needs upon their arrival. The adventures in Nangiyala are much like many other good fantasy stories like the Chronicles of Narnia or the Lord of the Rings, but they also have a deeper meaning to them.

My teacher read this book to the entire class when I was about 9 years old (the Swedish version). All the kids in the class loved the book and we listened intently while our teacher struggled to read it. The death of your child is a parent's worst fear and having to deal with it head on like you do when reading this book is, I think, emotionally harder on the parent then on the child. I and my wife started reading this book to our daughter (8-years old) but she ended up reading the whole book to herself and she loved it.

It should be noted that the story is not tied to a specific set of religious beliefs about life after death, so if you have strong beliefs in what exactly will happen after death (religious beliefs or atheistic beliefs) you may have a problem with this fantasy version. In my opinion this book is Astrid Lindgren's greatest book. However, it is also her most potentially problematic book, so I advise that you read the first third of the book yourself before you read it to your child. This would help you to prepare answers to difficult questions and to verify that you really want to read it to your child. The writing is very sensitive, peaceful, and thoughtful but it deals with difficult questions. Some people have a problem with the ending so check out the ending too (I did not have a problem with the ending). I loved it as a child and so did my daughter but it may not be true for you, so find out.

Yike. I loved this book, just loved it, until the last page or two. Spoiler alert - the book ends with the two kids deciding to jump to their deaths in order to pass over to the afterlife, since it is a far, far better place. They do have serious problems - one is paralyzed by a dragon, for one thing- who needs that. And their horses have died, and some of their friends. And then they don't want to be separated from each other by either paralysis or death. So a double suicide is obviously the only good choice. And so they jump. And in the last sentence they can see the light of the new afterlife, so much better than what they have just left.
Whoa there. What??! Suddenly the book became SERIOUSLY outdated to say the least, and something I would NEVER read to my grandkids or want them to read. I thought of making up a new ending, but the complex troubles that have brought the kids to this point would mean a fair amount of rewriting. I wondered if the author became bored with trying to solve all their problems and just decided to finish them off.
I did give the book 2 stars because the story of two brothers having such marvellous adventures requiring such bravery was spectacular. Like the Ring trilogy or the Narnia books. But the last few pages make it a book that should not ever, ever be read to or by a child.

SPOILER ALERT:
Astrid Lindgren lost her marbles when she wrote the last chapter. The story is beautiful and as a christian I have no problems reading it to my children as a fantasy rendition. The illustration of evil regimes and quest for freedom is very moving and uncanny in many ways. Worth reading for this alone, but the ending speaks a message that should never have been spoken. The older boy, the hero, would rather kill himself and his younger brother in a suicide attempt, rather than living a life as a cripple. SICK!

I just finished reading, for the first time in about 30 years, the Brothers Lionheart. I ordered it on Amazon last week after discovering it has recently been reprinted. It brought back a lot of memories and fond feelings from when I first read it around 1978 (my Aunt from Sweden mailed it to me in New York). When I first read it I was closer to the age of the younger brother in the book, and the concept of an older brother/protector (Jonathan was his name in the book) must have made an impact on me. I say this because in the late 1970s I renamed my favorite child's blanket "Jonathan" and would not travel anywhere without taking it along with me. I think "Jonathan" is still in a box somewhere in New York - I still can't throw it away.

The Brothers Lionheart is an excellent tale of adventure, courage, morals, and love. The Brothers Lionheart ranks as my 2nd favorite book, next to C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. I can understand why some parents would object to the themes of reincarnation (and suicide at the end of the book). But reading it as a child I always interpreted those two themes as fantasy - no more realistic than the talking animals in the Chronicles of Narnia.

Thank you Astrid Lindgren for writing this book.

There are not many books I read more than once, as a father of 3 these are mostly childrens books. Of all of these no book has made me cry every time like this one does. It is in my opinion Astrid Lindgren's best book. It tells the story of two brothers that face a terrible evil, more so because it is evil like we know, bad people doing bad things. In ways resembling recent wars and tyrants.

It is a book ful of morals and lessons. They are not slapped into the readers face or overexplained but they are there and an innocent child can relate to them.

The lesson of the book is to do the right thing always, no matter the risk and several more lessons besides. I have yet to read the first 2 chapters and not cry.

It is the perfect childrens book.

Way before Harry Potter and JK Rowling came along, European children book writers were taking children more seriously than most English and American writers. At the helm of this beautiful movement of children-centric literary world was Astrid Lindgren of Sweden and the wonderful Erich Kaestner of Germany, both well-known and widely read in non-English speaking Europe and most other places, but conviniently limited to a few of their works in UK and the USA (Pippi Longstocking for Lindgren and The Parent Trap for Kaestner).

Brothers Lionheart is Lindgren manifesting Kaestner's frustration at those childrens books authors who think that "children are made out of sweet pastries and cotton candy" (expressed at the beginning of the Flying Classroom, another master piece not known in the English speaking world). I read this book when I was 7 and have continued reading it, mainly in other languages, and had never seen it in English. The translation is good, although I do not like "Scotty" as a translation of Carl's nickname. The real one "Skorpan" (a sort of doughnut) is much nicer and homier.

Brothers Lionheart was very influential in my life. I learnt many lessons from it and enjoyed it very much, and I never felt that I was being preached to or was put down by the author. It is a novel that will appeal to children and even many adults (those who have not forgotten their childhood and thus their reason). I profoundly disagree with the person who is worried about the "negative" effects of the books darker issues (the after-life). It might surprise you that children are a lot more open-minded than their parents: they have not been spoiled by the prejudices we call "our heritage".

This book, I will claim, is one of the best books ever written, anywhere, in any language, and if it was me, I would have given it to all the 6 billion people in the world to read...

I read this when I was a child in the early 1970's, and really loved it! It's not a happy-sappy book. There are sad, scary, and edge-of-your-seat moments, and all add up to one fantastic and moving story. My only complaint about this recent reprint is the changing of Karl's nickname from "Rusky" to "Scotty". The boy had been given his nickname based on his love of rusks as a small boy; perhaps the new translators thought Americans wouldn't know what a rusk is, and so substituted biscotti. Minor, minor quibble! I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves adventure stories. Probably best for the older child (maybe over 8 or so), because there are some parts which could be quite frightening.

I love this book! I first read it when I was in middle school in China. It is not the ordinary kind of children's book, definitely not as light-hearted as the children in the noisy villages series or Carlson on the roof. In fact, I cry each time when I read it. Even parts of book were painful to read, I believe you will finish with the feeling that love and kindness is more powerful than anything. I recommend this to all children, especially to those with siblings.

I have read the book in Finnish, Swedish and now in English. It is a beautifully written book, makes you cry in all these languages.

This is my favorite chldren's book of all time, but I was very dismayed that in some translations the younger brother's name (Kark, also Rusky) is changed to "Scotty". Scotty? In SWEDEN? Scotty is a horrible name, unless it'f for a terrior! Makes me think of how the film directors for the HP series made the kids all wear "regular" clothes in the last few films in a stupid attempt at homogenizing them, rather than letting them dress as they would have. Oh, PLEASE! Look for a good translation of this book, and you will know if Karl is still Karl (nicknamed Rusky). It's a great, heart-felt book.