In April 1999 my book about children's playhouses LEKSTUGOR om lek, lust, gladje och gemenskap - en dokumentation will be published by Carlsson Forlag in Stockholm, Sweden. Of course the text will be in Swedish, but more than one hundred pictures show different kinds of playhouses in all sizes from all around Sweden. The oldest playhouses in the book are more than a hundred years old and the youngest ones were newly built at the time I collected the material eight years ago.
In the book we mostly meet childhood memories of the elderly women but quite a few girls from a younger generation are also sharing their playhouse experiences with the readers. The miniature houses in the gardens are filled with things and joy to remember and family members of all generations are most often involved in both building the house itself and later enjoying the family garden facility for gatherings and parties.
The small houses and their contents are for many families an expression of their own creativities and handicraft skills. The objects and articles are than filled with meanings and people's inner thoughts about what is right when making "a first home" for their little girls. A playhouse therefore consists of much more than what first comes to mind and the book will open the happy known and unknown worlds of many playhouse owners childhood. Most playhouse stories are about happiness and good felings towards parents who created not only joy for their children but through the gift also gave them security and confidence for their future lives to come.
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