Can you whistle, Johanna?
Age 7+
Picture Storybooks General Fiction Adventure Stories Family & Home Stories Humorous Stories
This is a sensitive book, a classic in many countries, about a friendship between two boys and an old man.
There are plenty of old men who would do as a grandfather at the retirement home, Ulf suggests, when Berra wonders why he doesn’t have one. They go there together to find one – ideally one who eats pig’s trotters, invites you to tea and who can teach you to whistle.
Creators
Ulf Stark was born in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1944. He has written around thirty books for children and young adults, translated into more than twenty languages. He has won many prizes in Sweden and internationally, including the German Youth Literature Prize and the Astrid Lindgren Prize, and he was shortlisted for the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2018.
Reviews
A sweet, tender, never maudlin evocation of an intergenerational friendship.
Kirkus Reviews starred review
astounding, profound, moving and permanent
The School Reading List
One of those rare perfect ones. 5+.
Youth Services Book Review
An enchanting and thought-provoking story that challenges you to reflect and ponder the importance of the relationships that we create and foster.
Read Plus
a delightful new edition of a 1992 Swedish classic novel for younger readers… a heart-warming story of the interaction between members of two generations
Reading Time
