By Astrid Lindgren
A nine-year-old who can lift a horse over her head, owns a suitcase of gold coins, and answers to no grown-up on earth.
Pippi Longstocking lives on her own in a rambling old house with a horse on the porch and a monkey named Mr. Nilsson on her shoulder. She's the strongest child in the world — she really can hoist the horse right over her head — she has a suitcase stuffed with gold, and she does exactly as she likes: no school, feet on the pillow at bedtime, and a comeback ready for every adult who tries to make her behave. Next door, perfectly ordinary Tommy and Annika can hardly believe their luck at getting her for a neighbor.
If your child cheered for Matilda taking down the Trunchbull, Pippi is the original of that type — she came decades earlier, and she out-argues, out-lifts, and out-lasts every grown-up who tries to civilize her. Each chapter is its own self-contained escapade, so you can read just one at bedtime or let it run. It's an older book, and the pace is gentler than a modern comedy. The plain glee of a child running her own household is what carries the whole thing.