' The book is grand beautiful exciting & poignant It is full of poetical phrasing yet allows for the naughty spirit of childhood to remain true' Guardian' Never before had Nils travelled around at such good speed & he had always liked riding fast & wild Nor had he thought what it might be like to travel so high above the ground But it was like flying away from worries & sorrows & annoyances of every imaginable kind' Nils Holgersson is a naughty boy who pulls the tails of cats & trips up his mother while she is carrying the milk pail Then one day he discovers he has been magically turned into a tiny imp He climbs on the back of a gander & takes off with a flock of wild geese as they fly over Sweden soaring above patchwork fields through storms to castles & lakes & even to a city under the sea As he learns about the world he also learns what it means to care for living things in Selma Lagerloef's timeless & beloved fable