Books with author Jostein Gaarder

From the author of SOPHIE'S WORLD, a modern fairy tale with a philosophical twist.'My father died eleven years ago. I was only four then. I never thought I'd hear from him again, but now we're writing a book together'To Georg Røed, his father is no more than a shadow, a distant memory. But then one day his grandmother discovers some pages stuffed into the lining of an old red pushchair. The pages are a letter to Georg, written just before his father died, and a story, 'The Orange Girl'. But 'The Orange Girl' is no ordinary story - it is a riddle from the past and centres around an incident in his father's youth. One day he boarded a tram and was captivated by a beautiful girl standing in the aisle, clutching a huge paper bag of luscious-looking oranges. Suddenly the tram gave a jolt and he stumbled forward, sending the oranges flying in all directions. The girl simply hopped off the tram leaving Georg's father with arms full of oranges. Now, from beyond the grave, he is asking his son to help him finally solve the puzzle of her identity.

From the author of SOPHIE'S WORLD, a modern fairy tale with a philosophical twist.'My father died eleven years ago. I was only four then. I never thought I'd hear from him again, but now we're writing a book together'To Georg Røed, his father is no more than a shadow, a distant memory. But then one day his grandmother discovers some pages stuffed into the lining of an old red pushchair. The pages are a letter to Georg, written just before his father died, and a story, 'The Orange Girl'. But 'The Orange Girl' is no ordinary story - it is a riddle from the past and centres around an incident in his father's youth. One day he boarded a tram and was captivated by a beautiful girl standing in the aisle, clutching a huge paper bag of luscious-looking oranges. Suddenly the tram gave a jolt and he stumbled forward, sending the oranges flying in all directions. The girl simply hopped off the tram leaving Georg's father with arms full of oranges. Now, from beyond the grave, he is asking his son to help him finally solve the puzzle of her identity.

Fifty years ago a girl disappeared from her home in Norway. She ran after a lamb and found herself travelling right across Europe to Palestine, and back through 2000 years to meet the Holy Family in Bethlehem. There she met angels, shepherds, wise men and other biblical characters who joined her on her pilgrimage; and she heard of many of the things that happened in the world in the last 2000 years.In present-day Norway, a boy acquires a strange old Advent calendar. Hidden in each of the windows is a tiny piece of paper. Little by little these pieces unfold the girl's story and as we learn what happened to her, another story is revealed - that of the strange old man who made the calender.

A startlingly original presentation of the Nativity story, woven into an enthralling and mysterious novel.Fifty years ago a girl disappeared from her home in Norway. She ran after a lamb and found herself travelling right across Europe to Palestine, and back through 2000 years to meet the Holy Family in Bethlehem. There she met angels, shepherds, wise men and other biblical characters who joined her on her pilgrimage; and she heard of many of the things that happened in the world in the last 2000 years. In present-day Norway, a boy acquires a strange old Advent calendar. Hidden in each of the windows is a tiny piece of paper. Little by little these pieces unfold the girl's story and as we learn what happened to her, another story is revealed - that of the strange old man who made the calender.

From the author of SOPHIE'S WORLD, a modern fairy tale with a philosophical twist.'My father died eleven years ago. I was only four then. I never thought I'd hear from him again, but now we're writing a book together'To Georg Røed, his father is no more than a shadow, a distant memory. But then one day his grandmother discovers some pages stuffed into the lining of an old red pushchair. The pages are a letter to Georg, written just before his father died, and a story, 'The Orange Girl'. But 'The Orange Girl' is no ordinary story - it is a riddle from the past and centres around an incident in his father's youth. One day he boarded a tram and was captivated by a beautiful girl standing in the aisle, clutching a huge paper bag of luscious-looking oranges. Suddenly the tram gave a jolt and he stumbled forward, sending the oranges flying in all directions. The girl simply hopped off the tram leaving Georg's father with arms full of oranges. Now, from beyond the grave, he is asking his son to help him finally solve the puzzle of her identity.

THE CHRISTMAS MYSTERY transcends all barriers. We all love a beadtime story and here we have a philosophical meditation wrapped in the simple clothes of a journey across Europe to Bethlehem. The qualities of wonder and enquiry that readers loved in SOPHIE'S WORLD are as strong as ever in this beautiful and mysterious story. This has a metaphysical matrix that brings in God and doctrine in a way that will appeals to believers and non-believers alike. A boy called Joachim acquires a strange old Advent calender - and uncovers from it the story of a girl called Elisabet, who disappeared from her home fifty years earlier. Elisabet has been taken back through time and right across Europe to Palestine, to see the Holy Family in Bethlehem. Two thousand years of history flash by, and angels, shepherds and wise men join her on her joyful pilgrimage. It is Joachim who, through the Advent calendar, makes it possible for her to come home.

Conversations about life and death, between a girl and an angel.It's almost Christmas. Cecilia lies sick in bed as her family bustle around her to make her last Christmas as special as possible. Cecilia has cancer. An angel steps through her window. So begins a spirited and engaging series of conversations between Cecelia and her angel. As the sick girl thinks about her life and prepares for her death, she changes subtly, in herself and in her relationships with her family.Jostein Gaarder is a profoundly optimistic writer, who writes about death with wisdom, compassion and an enquiring mind. THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY will not only bring comfort to the bereaved. It will move and amaze everyone who reads it.

Conversations about life and death, between a girl and an angel.It's almost Christmas. Cecilia lies sick in bed as her family bustle around her to make her last Christmas as special as possible. Cecilia has cancer. An angel steps through her window. So begins a spirited and engaging series of conversations between Cecelia and her angel. As the sick girl thinks about her life and prepares for her death, she changes subtly, in herself and in her relationships with her family.Jostein Gaarder is a profoundly optimistic writer, who writes about death with wisdom, compassion and an enquiring mind. THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY will not only bring comfort to the bereaved. It will move and amaze everyone who reads it.

The magical adventures of a small boy who helps a frog turn back into a prince, and is rewarded with a visit to the Frog Castle. Here, in an Alice-in-Wonderland story where dreams and reality are intertwined and time is turned on its head, he meets a little princess called Aurora, a wicked lord chamberlain, a bold queen and a kind king whose heart is stolen away. In THE FROG CASTLE nothing is quite what it seems. As in all Gaarder stories, there is more to this than meets the eye: the subtext is a gentle exploration of birth and death, and a child learning to comprehend the loss of his beloved grandfather. Characterized by the charm and innocence that so many readers loved in HELLO? IS ANYBODY THERE?, THE FROG CASTLE confirms Jostein Gaarder as a wonderful storyteller whose special gift is to open children's eyes to the great mysteries.