The Brothers Lionheart
by Astrid Lindgren
- Series
- Standalone
- Genre
- Classic fantasy for children
- Age
- ages 8 and up
About the book
Karl is ill, and he knows he is going to die. His big brother Jonathan tells him about Nangijala, a land beyond the stars where you go after death, and where it is still the time of campfires and adventures.
The brothers meet again in Nangijala, in Cherry Valley, and there they become the Brothers Lionheart. But not everything is peaceful. In Wild Rose Valley the cruel Tengil rules, and he has the dragon Katla on his side. Karl, who has always been the frightened one, has to find his own courage.
The book was published in 1973. It is about death, fear and courage in a way that children understand and adults never forget.
My thoughts
It is a brave book. It talks to children about death without hiding anything, and it does so with so much warmth that you remember it for the rest of your life.