In The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, Selma Lagerlöf tells the story of Nils Holgersson, a young boy who is transformed into an elf after a set of misdeeds. Escaping with his family’s farm goose he joins up with a flock of wild geese and travels with them across Sweden as they return to their annual nesting grounds in Lapland.
The story was originally written as a commission for the Swedish National Teachers’ Association to write a geography book for children and has become a firm favourite in the country. It’s been adapted for screen many times, translated into over 30 languages and, until recently, was the artwork on the 20 krona banknote.