The Tomten

"It is the dead of night. The old farm lies fast asleep and everyone inside is sleeping too . .

Here is a lonely old farm where everyone is sleeping. All but one . . .

The Tomten is awake. He lives in a corner of the hayloft and comes out at night when human beings are asleep. He is an old, old Tomten who has seen the snow of many hundreds of winters. No one knows when he came to the farm. No one has ever seen him, but they know he is there. Sometimes when they wake up they see the prints of his feet in the snow. But no one has seen the Tomten."
 
So begins The Tomten, a lovely children's book by Astrid Lindgren. I discovered it when my children were small and it has been a favorite ever since. Recently I discovered that a short video, featuring with Harald Wiberg's gentle but evocative artwork, has been made available on youtube.

In the spirit of this Midwinter season, I share it with you:

The Tomten