What is Pippi Longstocking (book)?
{{italictitle}} {{more sources|date=September 2013}} {{Infobox Book | name = Pippi Longstocking | title_orig = Pippi Långstrump | image = | image_caption = | author = [[Astrid Lindgren]] | illustrator = | country = [[Sweden]] | language = [[Swedish language|Swedish]] | cover_artist = | series = | genre = Children's novel | publisher = Rabén and Sjögren | release_date = 1945 | media_type = Print | pages = | isbn = 0140309578 | oclc = 2798770 | preceded_by = | followed_by = Pippi Goes on Board }} '''''Pippi Longstocking''''' ({{lang-sv|Pippi Långstrump}}) is a [[novel]] by [[Astrid Lindgren]]. It was originally published in [[Sweden]] on 26 November 1945. It is the first in a series of books about [[Pippi Longstocking]]. Pippi is a girl who lives alone in a house with her pets, a [[monkey]] named Mr. Nilsson and a [[horse]] that she keeps on the porch. She befriends Tommy and his sister Annika, who live next door to her. As of 2009, the book has been [[Translation|translated]] into 64 languages.<ref>{{cite web|title=Characters in Other Countries|url=http://www.astridlindgren.se/en/around-world/characters-other-countries|work=Astrid Lindgren official site|accessdate=4 April 2013}}</ref> ==Background== {{main|Pippi Longstocking}} Astrid Lindgren first thought of Pippi Longstocking in 1941. Her 9-year-old daughter Karin was sick and had to be kept in bed. She asked her mother to tell her a story, so Lindgren made up a character named Pippi Longstocking and some stories about her to entertain her daughter. In 1944, she wrote them down and sent the [[manuscript]] of the book to Bonnier Publishers. They said that they did not want to publish the book. When the publishing company Rabén and Sjögren announced a children's book contest on January 28 of the next year, she sent a new version of the book to the company. It won first prize and was published in 1945. Afterwards, Rabén and Sjögren would also publish the seque