When the Bäckhult farmer drove into town

When the Bäckhultbauer in the city went even a calf falls from the sky ( Swedish När Bäckhultarn for till stan ) is a story of Astrid Lindgren .

action

Johann is sad because Embla, the only cow in his family, has died.

Meanwhile, the Bäckhult farmer, a large farmer, drives into town and buys a calf there. Then he gets drunk in the tavern. On the way back he falls asleep on the carriage. But his horse keeps on running, it knows the way back. When the Bäckhult farmer wakes up, he hears a loud roar. He thinks it's the devil and throws the calf off the carriage. Then he goes home.

When Johann goes to shovel snow, he discovers the calf in the snow. He is overjoyed to take this home with him. But his father thinks it might belong to someone and wants to find out about it.

Johann and his father go to the Bäckhult farmer. He notices how important the calf is for Johann. Therefore he gives this to Johann. Instead, Johann and his father shouldn't tell how they got the calf.

History of origin

The story When the Bäckhult farmer drove into town comes from a story by Astrid Lindgren's father Samuel August Ericsson. Astrid Lindgren once told of a drunken innkeeper from Frödinge who bought a calf from his brother. Ericsson helped the innkeeper put the calf in a sack so that the innkeeper could easily take it with him on his carriage. Then the innkeeper went to the pub and drank. On his way back, he didn't remember buying a calf. When he suddenly heard a terrible roar from the calf, he believed it was the devil and threw the calf off the cart. This story got around in the community. When Ericsson met the innkeeper again, he asked him somewhat mockingly what had become of the calf. The innkeeper suspected that Ericsson knew about the story. He replied that this calf had really made a long journey.

Publications

In Sweden the story was published in 1951 under the title När Bäckhultarn for till stan in the book En bil kommer lastad . The book sold over 30,000 times in the first month. In 1984 the German version A calf falls from the sky was published for the first time as an independent book, illustrated by Mary Rahn . In 1990 there was a new German edition entitled When the Bäckhultbauer drove into town , this time illustrated by Marit Törnqvist . In the same year, an illustrated edition by Jutta Timm appeared in the Oeting children's book series Sonne, Mond und Sterne.

The story was also published as an audio book on the album Christmas with Astrid Lindgren (2014, ISBN 978-3837308082 ) under the title A calf falls from the sky .

reception

The German child and youth psychiatrist Michael Schulte-Markwort thinks a calf falls from the sky is one of the most beautiful stories for “coping with grief and comfort”. The story connects "in a miraculous way childish omnipotence thinking with human weakness and the possibility of generosity". For the reader or listener it is a consolation that can "arm them against sometimes too hard strokes of fate".

Kirkus Reviews praises the well-told story. This is a mix of gentle satire and sober realism. Marit Törnqvist's watercolorsare beautiful and a great addition to this unusual view of rural Sweden at the turn of the century.

Natalia Bragaru thinks that A Calf For Christmas , like all Astrid Lindgren books, has multiple levels. It provides information about the harsh realities of daily life on a farm in Sweden, tells about the gap between the poor and the rich, the traditions of the farmers, as well as about love, hope and the belief in miracles.

expenditure

• A calf falls from heaven, Verlag Friedrich Oetinger, 1984, ISBN 978-3-7891-1656-8 . (Illustrated by Mary Rahn )
• When the Bäckhult farmer drove into town (sun, moon and stars), Oetinger 1994, ISBN 978-3-7891-0501-2 . (Illustrated by Jutta Timm )
• When the Bäckhult farmer drove into town, Oetinger Friedrich GmbH, 1994, ISBN 978-3-7891-6801-7 . (Illustrated by Marit Törnqvist )
• A calf falls from the sky (sun, moon and stars), Oetinger 2012, ISBN 978-3-7891-1256-0 . (Illustrated by Jutta Timm)
• A calf falls from the sky (book stars), Oetinger 2017, ISBN 978-3-7891-0819-8 . (Illustrated by Jutta Timm)

literature

• Aulke, Cordula: Literature Project When the Bäckhult farmer drove into town. BVK, Buch-Verlag Kempen, 2004, ISBN 978-3-936577-83-9 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Waldemar Bergendahl (producer) and Roland Skogfeld & Per Olof Ohlsson (camera): Astrid Lindgren tells from her life . (Film) In: Astrid Lindgren's 100 Years Anniversary Edition. DVD. Universe movie.
2. ↑ När Bäckhultarn for till stan. .
3. ^ Astrid & Marit. .
4. ^ Children's books by Astrid Lindgren. Retrieved July 10, 2018 . 
5. ↑ Christmas with Astrid Lindgren. Retrieved December 24, 2019 . 
6. ↑ Michael Schulte-Markwort : Children's worries: What burdens our children and how we can help them , ISBN 978-3-426-44361-3 , 2017 limited preview in Google book search
7. ↑ A CALF FOR CHRISTMAS. .
8. ↑ Natalia Bragaru: “A Calf For Christmas” by Astrid Lindgren and Marit Tornqvist. .