A Crash Course for Molly

My love for picture books from foreign countries knows no bounds. This feeling is helped in no small part by titles like, "A Crash Course For Molly". Now, I'll be the first person to tell you that my knowledge of Swedish children's literature can be summed up in two words: Pippi Longstocking. Beyond that I'm as ignorant as any other American putz. Eva Eriksson, for her part, is no stranger to the Lindgren name. In 2001 she was the proud recipient of the Astrid Lindgren Award. A quick check of "Crash Course" and it becomes immediately apparent why this is. Telling an understated tale of bicycle (not to say car) safety, the book is sweet without ever going for the cheap emotional tug. A brilliantly subtle work of Swedish ingenuity. Molly's a pretty cool customer. She is big, she is smart, and now she is fully equipped to ride a two-wheel bike on her very own. With Grandma on her own bicycle, Molly is an excellent rider. Unfortunately, such happiness is marred whenever Grandma tells her to watch out for something. The two might be approaching a sign and if Grandma says, "Watch out for the pole" Molly will stare and stare at the roadblock until she can't help but smash into it. "It is strange", she admits. When Molly proceeds to mow down a driving instructor who's walking alongside the road, he's perfectly nice about it. He quickly informs the morose little pig that all Molly has to do is not look at the object she's trying to avoid. After some practice the girl is now a biker extraordinaire. And Grandma, with her eyes all googly towards the instructor, is the one who needs to be careful. Let's have a big round of applause for translator Elisabeth Kallick Dyssegaard, by the way. A foreign language children's author could have the deftest hand at a coy turn of phrase, but without an adequate translation you might as well toss the book out the nearest window. Now obviously I have not read the original version of "Crash Course". I can't tell you if Dyssegaard has adequately summarized all of Molly's quirks or the book's subtle humor. All I really know is that as it reads now, this is a charming tale with all kinds of wry undercurrents. No small feat translation-wise, eh? The illustrations, by the way, translate beautifully across borders. Molly has a kind of lovely self-confidence, even in the midst of her tumbles and pratfalls. Sporting a jaunty navy blue jumper and a bicycle helmet that bears no small resemblance to a slice of pumpkin, Molly is the quintessential arbitrator of cool. Clever eyes will notice not only the band-aids that cover Molly's knees and elbows but also those on the crest of her piggy little head as well. Molly's hometown is just a lovely little area too. Eriksson never draws an inordinate amount of attention to it, but if I found myself living there for the rest of my life, I could die happy. The cool green trees, peaceful cafes, and small town lanes are lovely. I did have one objection, however

This is a sweet little story about a mouse (a small pig? a dog? a dog with a pig-like nose?) learning to rider her bicycle. The soft, shaded pictures (perhaps crayon and/or pastels) are soothing and uncomplicated. Molly, however, is not: She has this tendency to crash into objects while riding! Her problem is that she follows that nose; she keeps looking at the person or thing she's not supposed to hit, and keeps looking until she hits it! This including a driving instructor, wonderfully drawn in an old Disney style. The driving instructor tells her something very close to what I learned from an instructor: "You should look ahead to where you are going." There's a subtle but definite hint of romance between Molly's grandmother (she accompanies Molly on the bike rides), and the instructor. At the book's conclusion, Molly successfully rides past some kids who are being mean to her, but her grandmother is about to hit a sign while waving back at--probably the instructor! There's not too much of a story here, but the pictures are cute, albeit not entirely clear (Molly wears a half of a pumpkin--or is it a squash?-- as her bicycle helmut), and the story can be read quickly before bedtime. Cetainly not a great book, but a pleasant one.

This is a nice story about Molly learning to steer her bike. I recently bought my 2.5yr old daughter her first bike. Thought a book about bikes might help her to be more excited about it. I think it did just that!