''Thorbjørn Egners lesebøker'' ( en, Thorbjorn Egner's Readers) were a series of sixteen readers for elementary school written by

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

author

Thorbjørn Egner Thorbjørn Egner (12 December 1912 – 24 December 1990) was a Norwegian playwright, songwriter and illustrator known principally for his books, plays and musicals for children. He is principally associated with his narratives for children includ ...

. Egner spent 25 years working on the seriesconsisting of collected literature as well as his own stories and illustrationsand they were published in 1950–1972. The books were intended for children aged 8–15, which at the time corresponded to grades 2nd–9th. Among the recurring characters was the young boy Ola-Ola, who grew up on a farm on the Norwegian countryside, but later moved to the city and had to adapt to a new life. Other stories took place in far-away lands, reminiscent of the environment in Egner's celebrated '' When the Robbers Came to Cardamom Town''. There was also a selection of songs and poems in between the stories. The books took over the role held for decades by Nordahl Rolfsen's readers in the Norwegian educational system. Rolfsen's books were published in 1892–1895, and had been the standard works since, but starting in the 1950s, Egner's books took over this position. Egner himself considered the series to be the ''

magnum opus A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...

'' of his collected works. In 1972, howeverthe year in which the last book in the series was publishedthe educational program of Norwegian

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

s was altered. The new scheme largely abandoned the use of basic readers in the

curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...

. As a result, Egner's textbooks were rendered virtually obsolete as educational tools. The books remain an important part of the Norwegian cultural heritage, being considered children's classics, and some of them have been reprinted more recently.

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