The Wonderful Adventures of Nils -- which is the work of Sweden's greatest fiction writer -- was first published in Stockholm, in December, 1906. Lagerlf wrote it after a commission from the National Teachers' Association to write a reader for the public schools. She devoted three years to Nature study and to familiarizing herself with animal and bird life; she sought out unpublished folklore and legends of the different provinces, and wove them all into her story. With no small success; the book immediately became the most popular book of the year in Scandinavia. "The great author stands as it were in the background. The prophetess is forgotten for the voices that speak through her. It is as though the book had sprung direct from the soul of the Swedish nation." -- Stockholm's Dagblad ." . . a classic. . . . A masterwork." -- Sydsvenska Dagbladet ." . . the great story-teller, the greatest, perhaps, in Scandinavian literature since the days of Hans Christian Andersen. . . . The Adventures of Nils will always be precious. . . ." -- Gefle Posten