The first Pippi ice show ever, Pippi - an Adventure on Ice based on a number of episodes from the first two Pippi Longstocking books, will open in Malmoe, Sweden on April 8 nest year and is planned to tour nine Swedish cities until the final performance in Gavle on May 14. Mainly targeting children 3-9, the show is written and directed by Rolf Degerlund in cooperation with Pippi Longstocking licensor Saltkrakan AB. The professional ice dancer Lina Goransson stars in the title role and the thieves Dunder-Karlsson and Blom will be played by Tobbe Blom and Nassim al Fakir.

Pippi Longstocking - in Plus Licens territories also known by names like Pipi Dlouhá Puncocha, Fizia Ponczoszanka, Peppi Dlinniychulok and Lína Langsokkur - took the readers by storm in 1945, reflecting children's dreams of power, independence and playfulness, and taking an anti-authoritarian stance against rigid rules and requirements of society as well as all kinds of unwarranted status and prestige. Pippi was a forerunner for female fictional characters in children's literature and still holds the power to transgress boundaries for new generations. Astrid Lindgren herself has described her character as "a person with great power, but also of good will. /.../ Children are eternal underdogs, and their dreams are dreams of power. If I've had any purpose whatsoever with my Pippi character, besides entertaining my young readers, it would be this - to show them that you can have power without abusing it, for of all tricks in life this seems to be the most difficult."

For numerous readers, Ingrid Vang Nyman's images have become an indispensable part of the Pippi Longstocking universe - her humorous naivistic style, carefully stripped of all unnecessary elements and loyally depicting the world from a child's viewpoint, combines 20th century modernism with childhood nostalgia and timeless fun.

© Astrid Lindgren / Ingrid Vang Nyman / Saltkrakan