Picture books for children
Bring a little Norway home
Planning a trip to Norway with children or grandchildren? A good story is one of the best ways to get little travelers excited – and to keep the memories alive long after you’re home.
When I’m not on the road with our camper, I write picture books inspired by the Norway I know and love: the forests, the farms, the old folktales and our Christmas traditions. Read them before the trip, and your children will start spotting things from the books along the way. Read them after, and the trip gets to live on at bedtime.
Christmas in Norway
The Little Nordic Santas
Twelve days, twelve chapters and one family of little nisser waiting for Christmas. Along the way, the story is filled with Norwegian traditions: gingerbread, rice porridge, the Christmas sheaf for the birds and the old barn nisse.
Perfect for your trip
Visiting Norway in winter? You’ll find nisser in every window and shop. Not traveling at Christmas? This book brings a Norwegian Christmas home to you – one chapter each evening before Christmas Eve.
Norwegian folktales
The Runaway Pancake
A golden pancake leaps out of the pan and rolls down the road – and everyone wants a bite! This classic folktale was collected by Asbjørnsen and Moe in the 1840s, and Norwegian children still know it today.
Perfect for your trip
Folktales are part of Norway’s soul, and you’ll see trolls and fairytale figures in souvenir shops all over the country. And yes – Norwegians really do love pancakes, so order some on your trip and tell the story at the table.
Forest walks & Viking history
Forest Treasure Hunting with Astrid
Astrid the Little Viking Girl lives where the Norwegian forest begins. In her first book, she sets off on a treasure hunt where the treasures are pinecones, smooth stones, red berries and soft green moss.
Perfect for your trip
Norway is full of forest trails, and children love having a mission. Read the book, then go on your own little treasure hunt on your next walk. Astrid comes from the area around Kaupang – one of Norway’s earliest Viking towns.
Countryside drives
Tippy and the Old Shirt
Tippy is a curious little kitten who lives on a Norwegian farm. One day she finds an old shirt that turns into a game – and then discovers a whole new world just outside the barn door.
Perfect for your trip
Drive through rural Norway, and you’ll pass red barns, grazing animals and small farms everywhere. After reading about Tippy, every red barn becomes a game: “Do you think Tippy lives there?”
Three ways to use the books
Before you go
Read one book a week in the weeks before your trip, and talk about what you might see.
On the road
Bring a book for quiet evenings in the hotel, cabin or camper.
Back home
Let the book become a souvenir that brings back the memories every time you read it.
Read the stories behind the books on my creative site, Art by Anne Bente.
Happy travels – and happy reading! Anne Bente