Geography
Sweden’s National Teachers’ Association commissioned the author to write book for children that would teach them the geography of the country. She spent three years doing research and during that time conceived the idea of teaching through an adventurous work of fiction. The result is a curious mixture of reality, myth and legend and fiction all wrapped up in an entertaining sort of travelogue in the form of a flight atop a goose across the length and breadth of Sweden.
The Universality of Myth and Legend
During the course of his journey, the tiny hero learns much about not just the geography of Sweden, but some of its actual landmarks and buildings. In addition to these actual places, he also bears witness to what might be term the Swedish version of legendary stories. He learns a lesson about appreciation what actually exists by flying over a sunken Scandinavian equivalent of Atlantis. A section titled “The Rat Charmer” is a retelling of the Germanic tale of the Pied Piper leading the rats out town.
Animal Appreciation
Along the way, the animals populating the various geographical locations which Nils visit become involved in some ways with the visitors. Through these encounters, the boy whom the reader learns right at the start of the book has shown cruelty to animals learns lessons in understanding while the reader learns about animal behavior. Though the animals speak because Nils can understand them in his magical state, they are not endowed with human qualities to fit the fantasy. Even as they speak, their behavior remains firmly rooted in observed phenomena.
Redemption
While the context of the narrative is directed toward teaching lessons in Swedish geography, the narrative itself charts a journey to redemption for Nils. The book begins with descriptions of his by parents—his parents!—in which he is painted as a lazy dullard good-for-nothing. Soon enough his actions show that all these negative attributions are more than warranted. And so his journey as the smallest teenage in the world is thematically a trek toward understanding and appreciation. He is guided in no small part by an old, experienced wild goose, leader of her flock and fount of wisdom to tiny humans.
