The Sun Egg

Elsa Beskow, illustrated by Elsa Beskow

A mysterious orange egg has fallen into the woods. “It’s a sun egg!” declares the elf who finds it nestled on the forest floor. Soon she and her friends find out what it really is, but not before the little elf goes off on one of the best adventures she has ever had.

 “As long as I can remember, my brother and sisters and I, like nearly all children, really enjoyed drawing. I was only six years old when I realized that more than anything, I wanted to learn how to draw when I grew up, and most of all illustrate storybooks. My brother and I often sat and drew together. He drew Viking clashes and heroic Greek battles, while I drew children and cottages and the countryside. His drawings were probably much better than mine. I remember that I admired them very much, even though I did feel his heroes had fairly short legs.”

Elsa Beskow, regarding her childhood in “När jag var liten”, first published in the collection Barnbiblioteket Saga no. 35 (the above text is taken from Solägget / The Sun Egg, 1986)