Brothers Lionheart

Yike. I loved this book, just loved it, until the last page or two. Spoiler alert - the book ends with the two kids deciding to jump to their deaths in order to pass over to the afterlife, since it is a far, far better place. They do have serious problems - one is paralyzed by a dragon, for one thing- who needs that. And their horses have died, and some of their friends. And then they don't want to be separated from each other by either paralysis or death. So a double suicide is obviously the only good choice. And so they jump. And in the last sentence they can see the light of the new afterlife, so much better than what they have just left.Whoa there. What??! Suddenly the book became SERIOUSLY outdated to say the least, and something I would NEVER read to my grandkids or want them to read. I thought of making up a new ending, but the complex troubles that have brought the kids to this point would mean a fair amount of rewriting. I wondered if the author became bored with trying to solve all their problems and just decided to finish them off.I did give the book 2 stars because the story of two brothers having such marvellous adventures requiring such bravery was spectacular. Like the Ring trilogy or the Narnia books. But the last few pages make it a book that should not ever, ever be read to or by a child.

This is in the main a standard fantasy adventure novel for children, especially I think for boys around 7 years old. What makes it special and memorable is the framing device. Apologies for the spoiler, but the story starts with the death of two young boys (one from illness, the other leaping to his death from a fire). The boys are transported to a fantasy realm and have many adventures and, in the end, commit suicide to go to yet another fantasy realm.If you have a child who is grappling with the idea of death and you want to persuade him or her that it’s not a big deal, by all means share this book with them. However for those who view death as final, this book is bizarre and disturbing. I wouldn’t want my kids believing that death is the way to Disneyland.A version of the opening chapter of this book (with the sickness and the fire) was excerpted in Cricket Magazine in 1976 or so. I read it then and it haunted me for decades. Only recently did I discover that the short story I remember from childhood was part of a book. Two points rather than one because it’s a haunting and memorable tale.

This is a beautiful story about life and death of two young brothers. Life is not always happy in childhood. Many children experience loss, emotional and physical and this book is not pretending that everything will be good again. Children need stories like this one to understand the greater picture and Astrid Lindgren knows how to present it. Next to most of her funny stories like Pippi and Emil, Ms. Lindgren is also aware of childhood sadness. I read this book to my children years ago and now I bought it for my grandchildren and look very much forward to reading it to them again. And to their inevitable questions and our discussions that will follow.One word of caution though. The Swedish original had beautiful illustrations by Ilon Wikland. The paper book I bought now has drawings by J.K. Lambert, which take away much of the beauty of the original. Make sure you get the book with Ilon Wikland illustrations.

It's a great story for children. Sometimes sad since it does deal with death and sacrifice. I read it when I was young and still think of it fondly today (decades later).

What happens when I die? Will I be all alone? Where will mom and dad be when I die? Will they be sad? What will happen to me after I die? These are questions children wonder about. When my daughter was about 5-6 years old she kept talking about "the mysterious beyond" where you go after you die. We have no idea where she got this idea from.In this book, Astrid Lindgren, the Swedish author who also wrote the Pippi Longstocking books, the Emil books and the "Children of Noisy Village" books, address these difficult questions. She does this without giving any definite answers and still she succeeds to give comfort to children via this exciting and beautiful "after death adventure". Astrid Lindgren's writing is very much in tuned with the feelings of children and the story is spell binding and well paced.Briefly, Scotty (Skorpan in the Swedish version) is a ten year old boy who is very sick. Everyone knows that he is dying except himself. Then one day he finds out in a cruel but accidental turn of events that he is going to die. To comfort him his older brother Jonathan tells him a story about Nangiyala, the land of adventures that lies beyond the stars, where you go after you die. As it turns out Scotty will not be going to Nangiyala alone. In fact the tragic and short life of Scotty and Jonathan and the love they developed for each other during their earthly lives enabled them to be the heroes that Nangiyala needs upon their arrival. The adventures in Nangiyala are much like many other good fantasy stories like the Chronicles of Narnia or the Lord of the Rings, but they also have a deeper meaning to them.My teacher read this book to the entire class when I was about 9 years old (the Swedish version). All the kids in the class loved the book and we listened intently while our teacher struggled to read it. The death of your child is a parent's worst fear and having to deal with it head on like you do when reading this book is, I think, emotionally harder on the parent then on the child. I and my wife started reading this book to our daughter (8-years old) but she ended up reading the whole book to herself and she loved it.It should be noted that the story is not tied to a specific set of religious beliefs about life after death, so if you have strong beliefs in what exactly will happen after death (religious beliefs or atheistic beliefs) you may have a problem with this fantasy version. In my opinion this book is Astrid Lindgren's greatest book. However, it is also her most potentially problematic book, so I advise that you read the first third of the book yourself before you read it to your child. This would help you to prepare answers to difficult questions and to verify that you really want to read it to your child. The writing is very sensitive, peaceful, and thoughtful but it deals with difficult questions. Some people have a problem with the ending so check out the ending too (I did not have a problem with the ending). I loved it as a child and so did my daughter but it may not be true for you, so find out.

Beautiful book. Read it many times already.

Did like this book and will share it

This book has the most brilliant beginning. Narrator Karl is ten, living in poverty in yesteryear Sweden...and he's dying. The moment when he overhears this fact, the terror and sadness are allayed by his wonderful older brother promising him a wonderful time 'on the other side'. But this fabled other world is no land of angels and harps, but an adventurous world of sagas and campfires, the land of Nangiyala.(Spoiler alert) Yet things don't quite work out that way; after a house fire, in which the elder 'Lionheart' brother, Jonathan, saves his invalid sibling's life, it is in fact he who arrives there first. When Karl eventually meets him, it is in a glorious land, but one ravaged by an evil force...A bit CS Lewis, but the reader can't help seeing similarities with the rise of Nazism: evil overlords in helmets building walls, enforcing curfews, issuing death sentences and despoiling the villagers; locals turning traitor...albeit with dragons, sea serpents etc adding to the drama.Certainly a religious sub-text, which the reader can engage with or ignore.And an absolutely brilliant and beautiful ending, which takes the reader (who thinks all is now well) entirely by surprise. Fabulous!

I'm giving this 5 stars even though it didn't quite work out the way I planned.We love Lindgren's Pippi Longstocking books and thought this would be a step on, so I bought it to read to my 7 year old son. However, having skimmed the first chapter, I realised it was a little too grown up for him.There is a death of a young child right at the start, and although it is very sensitively handled I felt it would just be a bit too upsetting at that age. However, having started to read it myself I couldn't put it down. The prose has a beautiful heroic style, like the folk tales it is based on. The relationship between the brothers a beautifully depicted. I also found it really refreshing to have a book written from the point of view of the younger, less strong child, rather than the classic, brilliant-at-everything hero. It's really a book about bravery, and what it really means to be brave - why it's important and where it comes from inside us.I think this would be a fantastic book for a mature 9 or 10 year old, but would also offer a lot for an early teen - although it's told from the point of view of a 10 year old the themes are very grown-up.

This is a good translation of the Swedish classic.This is a great story to read aloud as both adults and children will love the adventure and heart but kids 9+ will like to read it themselves too. The story itself is perhaps not for the faint-hearted but kids deal with the heavy subject matter at the beginning much better than we often give them credit for. Still, prepare for a few tears before the real adventure begins. While the main characters are boys, I have never known girls not to enjoy the story and get caught up in the adventure and excitement of Jonathan and Rusky's quest to save the land of Nagiyala, or identify with Rusky's feelings when he has to face foes and dangers far bigger than any little boy should have to.Astrid Lindgren is a master storyteller and while this book is a far cry from the jokiness of Pippi Longstocking, your child will surely love it just as much.A great recommendation for all those parents who would like their kids to read something other than Beast Quest (which are actually pretty good for what they are!).

I just love this book since I have read it as a child till now. I am still coming back to it. While growing up one can see new dimensions of the story. Some claim the book is too difficult or scary for kids...well, have a look what they are watching now in TV, what kind of games they are playing, on which activities they participate and then tell me the book is too much for them ;-) This kind of literature can make people better. To make them think about better things in life. It shows them what is love, courage, friendship, hope, determination. Some people say the concept of death in this book is what makes it inappropriate for children. Not really. It is us who did hide death in our life, who are denying it. It is here and children need to know it to be able to cope in their life, to be able to walk with their eyes open and see things as their are. What do you think more educative? Your kid reading about somebody dying for a reason in a fictional book or your kid sitting in front of a playstation and "shooting" fictional enemies by his own hand? I want my kids to be human and appreciative of life. Thats why I will give them this book to read.

Being danish and growing up in the 70's I read this book when it first came out..I must have been about 10. It made a huge impression on me then. I remember it as magical and epic and utterly absorbing. Now my own son i 7 and has learned danish although we live in Scotland. He can't read danish, though so I thought I would read this aloud for him. Unfortunately my own copy has gone missing so I had to get him a new. The paperback is not as nice as my old hard back copy - this is a classic to be read and reread and passed on, so I recommend to get the hard back.Anyhow, the story had certainly not lost it's magic for me. The story grips you from the fist page with the most hard wrenching, sad and moving start you can imagine. This does not lend itself well to reading aloud - I was in tears by the end of chapter one and choking on the words. Luckily the sadness is soon expelled by a new cheerful beginning for the hero of the story, Tvebak (I'm not sure how this is translated in the english version, but in Danish it means "rusk" or "crust of bread") and his brother, Jonathan.The story is about hope and the fight for freedom - and about the strong bond between brother.You HAVE to let your child read this book. They will love it - boys and girls alike.The book is a 10 stars for me but I have to say that the translation to English is not brilliant. It is clear that this is translated by a Scandinavian - and one not using English on a daily basis. My son who is so young picked up the strangeness of the translation and I found it distracting as well. It's a shame as the language in the original is so simple and beautiful