Goran's Great Escape

Goran, a normally placid bull, transfixes everyone in his small Swedish farming village one Easter morning when he is overtaken by a paroxysm of rage: "He thundered down the barn with such a terrible look in his eye that Svensson didn't dare to stop him and ask him what was wrong." T%C3%B6rnqvist, a contemporary artist who has illustrated several works by Lindgren, paints the villagers in period dress leaning against the fence in the gray spring light, fascinated and appalled by Goran, who runs around "like a raging lion." At last Karl, a runny-nosed farm boy in short pants, calls patiently to the bull%E2%80%94"Goran... if you come over here, I'll scratch you between your horns"%E2%80%94and leads him back into the barn. The triumph of the young child who subdues a powerful beast after all the grownups have failed is captured by T%C3%B6rnqvist in an intimate portrait of the two, the huge bull Goran as docile as a puppy in front of the diminutive Karl. Lindgren's affection for Karl warms the tale of his heroism: "There he goes, a small Swedish bullfighter among the pale, pale green birch trees." Ages 3%E2%80%93up. (Dec.)