Books

Prepare yourself for the wrath of the Norsemen! That is, if you don't mind and it's not too inconvenient...

Everyone knows Vikings are ruthless barbarians whose idea of a good time involves pillaging, plundering and feasting. But Thorfinn is no ordinary Viking! He is always polite and happily offers to wash the dirty dishes. Too bad his dad is Harald the Skull-Splitter, Village Chief and the roughest and toughest Viking of them all.

Indgar villagers are out watching an elk polo match, the village is attached, and Thorfinn's mum goes missing, presumed kidnapped. Harald, Velda Thorfinn and his boisterous brothers chase the mysterious raiders across the North Sea towards Scotland. Will Thorfinn the Nicest Viking manage to find his mum and bring her back home safe and sound?

Thorfinn the Nicest Viking is a funny, illustrated, action-packed new series for young readers which bridges the gap between Horrid Henry and Diary of a Wimpy Kid, set in a world where manners mean nothing and politeness is pointless!

7.75 in. x 6.25 in. 136 pages. 50 b&w illustrations. Ages 6-8. Paperback.

Sit down at the piano, dust off the accordion! You'll have hours of fun with this collection of 96 songs familiar to Swedish-Americans. There are folk songs, children's songs, Christmas songs and hymns. All are arranged for piano, with guitar and accordion chords, and lyrics in Swedish. English translations, many singable, are included for all the songs. There are historical notes and delightful illustrations throughout. Softcover.

The handy pocket-sized format dictionary for everyday use or while traveling. Contains up-to-date vocabulary with phonetic transcription and many other extras.

The trusted Universal Dictionary ensures quick and accurate reference with over 16,000 keywords and phrases in Swedish and English. Up-to-date vocabulary with phonetic transcription. With basic phrases, abbreviations, mini grammar, irregular verbs in Swedish and English in the annex. The ideal pocket reference work for use at home, in the office, at school or while traveling.

Flexibound. 416 pages.

4.2 x 3.1"

The Danish taught us hygge—how to embrace coziness.
The Swedes showed us the joys of lagom—balance.
Now, in this irreverent guide, discover the Finns’ secret to contentment: kalsariokanni—pantsdrunk–drinking at home, alone, in your undies!

When it comes to quality of life rankings, Finland always scores near the top of international surveys. Finns enjoy the best education system, gender equality, and a flourishing welfare state. These accomplishments have been made possible because of the Finns’ sisu or bull-headed pluck, as well as their ability to stay calm, healthy, and content despite a riptide of endless tasks and temptations—an ability that derives from the practice of kalsarikanni: pantsdrunk.

In this wry guide, Miska Rantanen explains this revered Finnish way of life and explains how to adopt it:

1. Peel off your clothes down to your underwear.
2. Place your favorite savory or sweet snacks within reach alongside your bed or sofa.
3. Make sure your television remote is nearby along with any and all devices to access social media.
4. Open your preferred alcoholic beverage.

Your journey toward inner strength, higher quality of life, and peace of mind has begun.

Rantanen explains the philosophy of panstdrunk and offers insights into how to reach pantsdrunk nirvana, how to practice pantsdrunk outside your home, how to combine it with social media, music, and film, and how to use it in achieving Zen.

176 pages. Hardcover.

Da vait is over!

Everyone can use a good laugh once in a while and this collection of Ole & Lena jokes are just the ticket! Quaint and well-meaning, Ole & Lena jokes celebrate the quirky folk humor of the Scandinavian immigrant community. You’ll laugh ’til your socks fall down!

Paperback (5" x 7"). 48 pages, b&w illustrations. By Mike & Else Sevig.

There’s a new threat in town—and it’s only twelve inches tall. How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack is the only comprehensive survival guide that will help you prevent, prepare for, and ward off an imminent home invasion by the common garden gnome. Once thought of as harmless yard decorations, evidence is mounting that these smiling lawn statues are poised and ready to wreck havoc. The danger is real. And it’s here. Class 1 gnome-slayer and gnome defense expert Chuck Sambuchino has developed a proven system—Assess, Protect, Defend, Apply—for safeguarding property, possessions, and loved ones. Strategies include step-by-step instructions for gnome-proofing the average dwelling, recognizing and interpreting the signs of a gathering hoard, and—in the event that a secured perimeter is breached—confronting and combating the attackers at close range.

Everyone can use a good laugh once in a while and this collections of Ole & Lena jokes are just the ticket! Quaint and well-meaning, Ole & Lena jokes celebrate the quirky folk humor of the Scandinavian immigrant community. You’ll laugh ’til your socks fall down! The book has 48 pages with black and white illustrations.

The Dala Horse: History Tradition Handicraft

This book shows the fascinating diversity and beauty of Sweden. Sweden, a symbol of Scandinavian idyll, inspires with its falun-red wooden houses surrounded by dense forests, with its quiet bays, long sandy beaches, lighthouses and windmills, colorful boathouses, the glittering sea between archipelagos, the infinite number of lakes, the lonely and wide snow landscapes, dog sleds, reindeer and moose.

Udo Bernhart has been working as a freelance photographer and photo journalist for more than 35 years and has published countless reports in national and international magazines. Growing up in the Vinschgau and closely connected to the South Tyrolean landscape, his commissions have taken him all over the world. Traveling and discovering the world belong to Sabine von Kielin's passions alongside art and media. She financed her studies as a flight attendant and traveled almost the whole of America and the most diverse places on earth.

Paperback. 456 pages.

Sweden is an illuminating and practical guide to Swedish culture and society. It will help you turn your visit - whether it's for business or for pleasure - into a memorable and enriching experience.

Local customs and traditions
The impact of history, religion, and politics
The Swedes at home, work, and play
Eating and drinking, Swedish Style
Dos, don'ts, and taboos
Business Practices
Communication, spoken and unspoken

The Insight Guides are beautiful, visual guides to destinations worldwide. They are renowned for their striking color photographs which vividly convey a sense of everyday life. They each contain detailed maps and helpful travel tips, along with a wealth of information about the culture, commerce, government, arts and literature, sights and sounds of the country they describe. Insight Guide Scandinavia is your comprehensive guide to Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland. Full-color photos throughout combine with lively text to inspire you to discover this vast and fascinating region. Lively and engaging essays on history and culture cover a wide range of subjects, from the legacy of the Vikings to the food and drink, while the Places chapters will help you plan your trip to this natural landscape of sparkling fjords and rocky mountains, glassy lakes and rushing rivers, dense forests and frozen tundra. Major sites are cross-referenced with the detailed maps to help you get around, while the travel tips give you all the planning information you’ll need, including recommendations about where to eat and where to stay.

Winter is brutal in Northern Sweden, and famine is ravishing the mountain villages. When both their father and mother die, seven siblings have little choice but to go to the poorhouse. But instead, the eldest, Ante, honors his mother's last wish by leading his siblings south in search of somewhere they will be given not only food and shelter but also a proper upbringing. On their harrowing journey, the intrepid orphans face threats to their lives and moral perils. But they carry themselves with a nobility that transcends social class and a joy that shines through their hardship.

The Children of Frostmo Mountain is a classic of Swedish literature. It is a tale about destiny, virtue, and the values passed on from parents to children.

This is an unabridged English translation, including the author´s forward from the original 1907 edition. By Laura Lugnet.

244 pages. Paperback.

Ages: 8 years to adult.

A charming, warmhearted novel from the author of the New York Times bestseller A Man Called Ove.

Elsa is seven years old and different. Her grandmother is seventy-seven years old and crazy—as in standing-on-the-balcony-firing-paintball-guns-at-strangers crazy. She is also Elsa’s best, and only, friend. At night Elsa takes refuge in her grandmother’s stories, in the Land-of-Almost-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas, where everybody is different and nobody needs to be normal.

When Elsa’s grandmother dies and leaves behind a series of letters apologizing to people she has wronged, Elsa’s greatest adventure begins. Her grandmother’s instructions lead her to an apartment building full of drunks, monsters, attack dogs, and old crones but also to the truth about fairy tales and kingdoms and a grandmother like no other. My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry is told with the same comic accuracy and beating heart as Fredrik Backman’s bestselling debut novel, A Man Called Ove. It is a story about life and death and one of the most important human rights: the right to be different.

384 pages. Paperback.

Meet Ove. He’s a curmudgeon — the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as though they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him “the bitter neighbor from hell.” But must Ove be bitter just because he doesn’t walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time? Behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove’s mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents’ association to their very foundations. Paperback. 377 pages.

A small community tucked deep in the forest, Beartown is home to tough, hardworking people who don't expect life to be easy or fair. No matter how difficult times get, they've always been able to take pride in their local ice hockey team. So it's a cruel blow when they hear that their town's ice hockey club might soon be disbanded. What makes it worse is the obvious satisfaction that all the former Beartown players, who now play for a rival team in the neighboring town of Hed, take in that fact. But the arrival of a newcomer gives Beartown hockey an opportunity for a comeback.

Soon a team starts to take shape around Amat, the fastest player you'll ever see; Benji, the intense lone wolf; always dutiful and eager-to-please Bobo; and Vidar, a born-to-be-bad troublemaker. But bringing this team together proves to be a huge challenge, especially as the town's enmity with Hed grows more acute as the big game approaches.

By the time the last goal is scored, a resident of Beartown will be dead, and the people of both towns will be forced to wonder whether, after everything, the game they love can ever return to something as simple and innocent as a field of ice, two nets, and two teams. Us against you.

Here is a declaration of love for all the big and small, bright and dark stories that give form and color to our communities. With immense compassion and insight, Fredrik Backman reveals how loyalty, friendship, and kindness can carry a town through its most challenging days.

Paperback. 434 pages.

Based in part on Ole Edvart Rølvaag’s own recollections as well of those of his wife’s family who were immigrant homesteaders, Giants in the Earth is the story of a Norwegian family forging a new life amid the harsh, desolate climate of the Dakota Territory.

Gourmet cook, Beatrice Ojakangas, shares recipes from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland for hearty breads, delicate pastries, and irresistible savory main course pies, pastries, and stuffed breads. In addition to mouthwatering recipes, you'll find information on Scandinavian traditions, along with plenty of helpful tips. 

Trace your Swedish, Norwegian or Danish ancestors! This convenient guide will help you discover your Northern European family history while optimizing your research time.

Highlights include:

• Strategies for identifying immigrant Scandinavian ancestors, plus how to trace them to Europe from North America.
• Methods for locating Swedish genealogy records, Norwegian genealogy records, or Danish genealogy records within your family's town of origin.
• Detailed guides to finding and decoding common Scandinavian records, including: church records, civil registration records, census returns, property deeds, military records, and many more.
• Quick guides to Scandinavian history, geography, and language.
• Historical timelines, sample records, and resource lists that will bring your family history to life.

If your family tree includes Swedish roots, Danish roots or Norwegian roots, The Family Tree Scandinavian Genealogy Guide is a must-have for your genealogy research.

256 pages. Paperback.

Gustaf and Anna Klar and their three children dream of starting over when they leave Sweden for New York, finally settling in a cluster of rough-hewn shacks in a deep, wooded ravine on the edge of St. Paul, Minnesota. This haunting story of a real place echoes the larger challenges of immigration in the twentieth century and today.

A step-by-step handbook to help guide you in researching your Swedish ancestors. Learn what Swedish records are available, where to find them, and how to use them­. Also discusses Swedish naming practices, and other helpful background information. By Per Clemensson & Kjell Andersson, this book is published by Ancestry Publishing. 

Vilhelm Moberg's beloved saga of Karl Oskar, his wife Kristina, and their family is a story that has been echoed by millions of other immigrants to this new, and sometimes strange land. Originally written in Swedish more than 60 years ago after months of research in Minnesota, the "Emigrant" books are classics on both sides of the Atlantic. Listed on Sweden's "Books of the Century" list. Softcover, in English.

Vilhelm Moberg's beloved saga of Karl Oskar, his wife Kristina, and their family is a story that has been echoed by millions of other immigrants to this new, and sometimes strange land. Originally written in Swedish more than 60 years ago after months of research in Minnesota, the "Emigrant" books are classics on both sides of the Atlantic. Listed on Sweden's "Books of the Century" list. Softcover, in English. 

Vilhelm Moberg's beloved saga of Karl Oskar, his wife Kristina, and their family is a story that has been echoed by millions of other immigrants to this new, and sometimes strange land. Originally written in Swedish more than 60 years ago after months of research in Minnesota, the "Emigrant" books are classics on both sides of the Atlantic. Listed on Sweden's "Books of the Century" list. Softcover, in English. 

Vilhelm Moberg's beloved saga of Karl Oskar, his wife Kristina, and their family is a story that has been echoed by millions of other immigrants to this new, and sometimes strange land. Originally written in Swedish more than 60 years ago after months of research in Minnesota, the "Emigrant" books are classics on both sides of the Atlantic. Listed on Sweden's "Books of the Century" list. Softcover, in English.

A Love Letter to the Baking of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden

Simply Scandinavian is a beautifully inspiring collection of easy and delicious recipes.

In a nod to the Scandinavian way of eating, this book offers over 80 unpretentious and straightforward dishes with a focus on ease of cooking and seasonality. By showing just how achievable it is to get amazing flavors out of a handful of good ingredients, Trine creates solutions for easy breakfasts, vegetable-forward mid-week meals and simple but impressive ways to entertain family and friends. This is an uncomplicated and greener way to cook and eat, from an expert in Scandinavian cookery.

Trine Hahnemann is a Danish chef and food writer and an enthusiastic advocate for sustainable solutions, organic sourcing, and food cooked with love. With her great knowledge of Danish food and food culture, she writes for and appears regularly in the media in America and Britain. Trine has written several cookbooks both in her native Danish and in English, including Scandinavian Comfort Food, Scandinavian Green and Copenhagen Food, winner of the Guild of Food Writers award for International or Regional Cookbook.

Hardcover.

Known as “Sju sorters kakor” in Sweden, this popular cookbook is a modern classic. It features cookies, sweet breads, butter cakes, tortes and other delights of the Swedish dessert table. The first edition came out in 1945, right after the war with its years of rationing, when home cooks were exicted about baking again. Over the years it has been continuously modernized and improved so that today’s edition, with almost 300 recipes, is a combination of new, modern cakes, cookies and pastries, as well as classic favorites. Prize-winning recipes from earlier editions are noted. Ingredients are common and easy to find, and if not, substitutions are suggested. For those with dietary concerns, there's an index directing you to 33 gluten-free, 8 sugar-free, and 54 egg-free recipes. Over 3.4 million copies of this exciting cookbook have sold in Sweden over the years. Every easy-to-follow recipe is accompanied by a color picture of the finished treat. 

Size: 5.5 x 3.75 x 0.5

Kerstin Olsson Van Gilder came to America from Sweden in 1961 and brought her recipes with her. She refers to Swedish foods as “cooking the naturally delicious way.”

She shares more than one hundred of those recipes in this volume, presented in convenient, recipe-card-size pages with a spiral binder. Among the recipes are ones for glogg, black soup, ham rolls, crayfish, Swedish meatballs, potato dumplings, Swedish pastry, and cocoa balls.

For everyone who has gotten cozy with hygge, discover another way of Scandinavian living with this full color, definitive guide to lagom (pronounced lah-gom), a balanced lifestyle enjoyed by Swedes that embodies the ideal of "not too little, not too much -- just right." In this inviting, inspirational, illustrated guide, Niki Brantmark explains lagom and explains how to incorporate it into your lifestyle. 

How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter by Margareta Magnusson. An international bestseller! A charming and practical approach to putting a home in order while reflecting on the tiny joys that make up a long life.

The Swedish Art of Aging Exuberantly shows us how to prepare for and understand the aging process, and the joys and sorrows it can bring. While Margareta still recommends ongoing downsizing and decluttering (your loved ones will thank you!) her ultimate message is that we should all be less afraid of the idea of death.

Wise, funny, and practical, The Swedish Art of Aging Exuberantly is a gentle and welcome reminder that, no matter your age, there are always fresh discoveries ahead, and pleasures both new and familiar to be enjoyed every day.

130 pages (With appendix 141 pages). Hardcover

This cheerful bookmark features a delightful collection of winter tomtes or gnomes making snow angels, by artist Kirsten Sevig! It's the perfect gift for any reader on your gift list! Size: 2.25" x 8.5"