A little known Astrid Lindgren book, one of more than half a dozen she wrote for this series. As one would expect from Lindgren, the story transcends the foreign-children genre: Marko and his little brother and their friends (not to mention the pig!) get into scrapes that are universally child-like and the book bubbles with vivacity. The photography, too, is utterly remarkable. It seems totally unposed and the children are naturally themselves throughout. Marko, by the way, lives in Macedonia and Lindgren establishes that fact in the first sentence.