Niels Holgersson's Wonderbare Reis

A selfish boy shrunk to the size of a thumb must flee the very animals he once tormented, embarking on an epic migration across Sweden with a flock of wild geese. This is the story of Niels Holgersson, whose cruelty toward the creatures of his family's farm earns him a terrible curse from a captured gnome: now tiny, hunted by the cows and barnyard beasts who remember his cruelty, he has no choice but to take flight. Riding on the backs of migrating geese, Niels discovers a Sweden he never knew existed, from the southern pastures of Skåne to the northern wilderness beyond the Arctic Circle. What begins as a desperate escape becomes a journey of transformation, as the boy who once delighted in tormenting animals learns that the world is far larger and more wondrous than his small cruelties allowed him to see. Lagerlöf's masterpiece weaves geography, folklore, and adventure into a story that has captivated Swedish readers for over a century.