Pippi Longstocking · Garden Heights

Part 2

for Pippi Longstocking · Part 2 · Chapter 2

8 Parts40 min

What Happens in Part 2

Pippi announces her profession: she is a thing-searcher, someone who roams the world finding things other people have lost or left behind. Tommy and Annika eagerly join the hunt. Pippi’s own ‘treasures’ are humble — a rusty old tin can and an empty thread spool — but somehow Tommy discovers a fine leather journal in a hollow old tree, and Annika a red coral necklace, and both look suspiciously new. On the way home they find five big boys, led by the bully Bengt, tormenting a small boy named Willie. Pippi steps calmly between them; when the boys turn on her and mock her red hair and big shoes, she lifts them one by one and hangs them on tree branches like laundry. Back at Villa Villekulla, the world’s most generous thing-searcher sends her friends home with real treasures: a pearl-handled dagger for Tommy and a little box of shells — with a ring inside — for Annika.

What We Will Learn

Section	What you will practice
Vocabulary	Words of finding and defending: rusty, spool, hollow, bully, rescue, generous…
Literary Elements	Dramatic irony, theme, and dialogue
Cross-Curricular	Who really owns a found thing, and how one brave bystander can stop a bully

Chapter Summary

Ch.	What happens
2a	A New Profession — Pippi declares herself a thing-searcher and leads the hunt through town.
2b	Strange Luck — Pippi finds a rusty can and a spool; Tommy and Annika find a journal and a coral necklace that look oddly new.
2c	The Fight — Bengt and four boys torment little Willie; Pippi hangs the bullies on tree branches.
2d	Real Treasure — at home, Pippi gives Tommy a pearl-handled dagger and Annika a shell box with a ring.

Part 1

Vocabulary

Study 10 key words from Chapter 2, then answer each question.

🧠Knowledge Bank · The Arm Is a Lever

Content · Body ScienceWhen Pippi plucks a bullying boy off the ground and sets him in a tree, think about how an arm actually works. Your arm is a lever — a stiff bar (the bones) that turns at a hinge (the elbow), pulled by muscles that can only tug, never push. Because the muscle attaches close to the joint, it must pull with great force just to lift a small load held far out in your hand. That clever but demanding design is why carrying another child is genuinely hard work for real people, and why lifting one overhead like a doll is beyond us. Lindgren knows this, so she picks the one action every reader has strained to do and lets Pippi perform it as easily as setting down a feather.

Visual AidThe arm is a lever

Diagram for the Knowledge Bank on the arm as a lever. The vertical bar is the bone, the circle is the elbow hinge, the red band is the muscle attached close to the hinge, and the small box is the load held far out in the hand, all as the Knowledge Bank describes. It is a schematic, not an anatomy drawing, and shows one muscle only. Notice how close the muscle sits to the hinge and how far away the load is — that distance is why a small load costs a great pull.

Lever, hinge, muscle and load as described in the Knowledge Bank. Drawn for Garden Heights Academy.

rustyadj.Ch.2

Covered in rust; worn by age and rain

“Her first find was a rusty old can.”

spooln.Ch.2

A small roller that thread is wound around

“An empty spool lay in the grass.”

hollowadj.Ch.2

Having an empty space inside

“The journal sat inside a hollow tree.”

bullyn.Ch.2

Someone who hurts or frightens weaker people

“Bengt was the worst bully in town.”

rescuev.Ch.2

To save someone from danger or harm

“Pippi moved quickly to rescue Willie.”

daggern.Ch.2

A short, pointed knife

“The dagger had a pearl handle.”

coraln.Ch.2

A hard sea material often used for jewelry

“The necklace was carved from red coral.”

generousadj.Ch.2

Happy to give freely to others

“Pippi is generous with her treasures.”

tormentv.Ch.2

To be cruel to someone on purpose

“Five boys were tormenting one small boy.”

professionn.Ch.2

The job or work someone does

“Thing-searching, said Pippi, was her profession.”

ⓘ The vocabulary words in this list are selected to help you understand and complete this workbook. Some may not appear verbatim in the original novel.

🧠Knowledge Bank question

1According to the Knowledge Bank, muscles can only ___.Ch.2

2A ‘hollow’ tree has an empty space inside it.Ch.2

3Someone who hurts or frightens weaker people is a ___.Ch.2

4To ‘torment’ someone means to comfort them kindly.Ch.2

5Fill in each blank with the correct word.Ch.2

Word choices:rescuerustygenerousspool- some words will not be used

Pippi stepped in to Willie from the gang.

Her own find was only a old can.

6A short, pointed knife is called a ___.Ch.2

7A ‘generous’ person hates to share what they own.Ch.2

8The hard sea material in Annika’s necklace is ___.Ch.2

9Fill in the blanks with the correct words.Ch.2

Word choices:professiontormenthollowdagger- some words will not be used

Thing-searching, Pippi explained, was her .

The gang loved to smaller children.

10Work that someone does as their job is their ___.Ch.2

Part 2

Comprehension

Show you understood what happens in Chapter 2.

🧠Knowledge Bank · What Actions Reveal

Comprehension · Chapter 2This chapter never stops to describe Pippi’s heart, yet it tells you plainly who she is — if you read her actions. She wanders the town as a ‘thing-finder,’ turning a rusty tin into treasure, then uses her enormous strength not to hurt the bully but to lift him gently out of reach. A careful reader gathers these deeds and draws a conclusion, which is called making an inference about character. Notice what she does with her power: she rescues a smaller boy and never throws a punch. Strength could make a bully of anyone, so choosing kindness tells us more than any speech could. When you let a character’s choices, not her words, reveal her nature, you are reading the way the best readers do — with a watchful eye.

A single rusted red coffee can stands on the ground against a wall of weathered horizontal wooden planks — Photograph of a rusted coffee can against the wooden wall of an abandoned building, taken in 1972 for the Documerica project. The *Knowledge Bank* says the chapter shows who Pippi is through her actions: she wanders the town as a thing-finder, turning a rusty tin into treasure. This is exactly such a tin — worthless to almost everyone, and precisely the kind of find she prizes. Nobody in the book found this can, and it is in America, not Sweden. Notice how ordinary it is; the *Knowledge Bank* asks you to read what a character does with such things, not what the things are worth.
Rusted coffee can beside an abandoned building, May 1972; photograph by Blair Pittman for Documerica, U.S. National Archives. Source: Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

🧠Knowledge Bank question

1The Knowledge Bank says drawing a conclusion from a character's deeds is called ___.Ch.2

2What are Pippi’s own two finds?Ch.2

3Tommy finds a leather journal inside a hollow old tree.Ch.2

4Who is the leader of the boys tormenting Willie?Ch.2

5Write the numbers 1–5 in the boxes to show the correct order of events in Chapter 2. Number 1 = what happens first.Ch.2

Pippi keeps two odd scraps for herself.
Pippi announces that she is a thing-searcher.
Pippi hangs the five bullies on tree branches.
Tommy receives a dagger and Annika a shell box with a ring.
Bengt and his gang are caught tormenting Willie.

6When the boys mock her, Pippi bursts into tears and runs home.Ch.2

7What does Pippi do to Bengt and his gang?Ch.2

8What gift does Annika take home?Ch.2

9The journal and necklace the children find look old and broken.Ch.2

10Why does Pippi most likely step between the boys and Willie?Ch.2

Part 3

Literary Elements

Understanding HOW and WHY Astrid Lindgren tells the story across Chapter 2.

🧠Knowledge Bank · The Wink Behind the Story

Narrative Craft · The Wink Behind the StoryLindgren lets us see what Tommy and Annika cannot: the shiny ‘finds’ waiting in a hollow tree were surely placed there, and Pippi’s rescue is powered by strength no child could own. When the reader knows more than the characters do, we call it dramatic irony, and it works like a private wink between author and reader. That extra knowledge changes how we read the fight — we are not worried the bully will win, because we already understand Pippi is impossibly strong. So the tension turns to delight, the same delight a tall tale gives when everyone but the boastful hero pretends not to notice the exaggeration. Feeling that shared secret is part of the fun, and learning to spot it is a real reader’s skill.

Dramatic Irony

The reader knows something a character does not — we guess who really put the journal and necklace where the children would find them.

Theme

A story’s central idea — here, that real strength is used to protect, never to frighten.

Dialogue

The words characters speak — Pippi’s cheeky answers make the bullies look silly before she lifts a finger.

🧠Knowledge Bank question

1According to the Knowledge Bank, dramatic irony is when ___.Ch.2

2Fill in the blank with the correct literary term.Ch.2

Word choices:themedialoguesettingsimile- some words will not be used

The idea that strength should protect the weak is the chapter’s .

Pippi’s cheeky spoken answers to Bengt are .

3Why does Lindgren make Pippi’s own finds worthless junk?Ch.2

4In this chapter, Pippi’s words defeat the bullies before her strength does.Ch.2

5Hanging the bullies on branches ‘like laundry’ makes the fight feel ___.Ch.2

6The planted treasures mostly reveal that Pippi ___.Ch.2

7‘Theme’ means the exact place where a story happens.Ch.2

8Fill in the blank with the correct literary term.Ch.2

Word choices:dramatic ironythememoralhyperbole- some words will not be used

Knowing what a character does not know is called .

9Bengt mocking Pippi’s hair and shoes right before losing to her is an example of ___.Ch.2

10The chapter’s events argue that a hero’s strength is best measured by ___.Ch.2

Part 4

Think Deeper

Four deeper challenges — no single-word recall. Read, weigh the evidence, and reason it out.

🧠Knowledge Bank · Reading Pippi’s Tricks

Child Psychology · Reading Pippi’s TricksTwo things sit side by side in this chapter and reward slow thinking. First, treasures appear exactly where children will find them; second, a bigger boy who torments a smaller one suddenly finds himself sitting helpless in a tree. Ask what Pippi does with power that no one can check. She could take, boast, or bully, yet she uses her strength to lift the weak out of danger and to hand small joys to others. That is a picture of fairness: real strength measured by how gently it is spent. Lindgren invites you to notice that being the strongest in the story matters far less than being the kindest. Weighing power against how it is used is the heart of grown-up reasoning, and it begins with one habit of mind worth practicing every day — fairness.

Think back over the chapter. Pippi cheerfully pockets junk, yet fine new treasures keep appearing wherever Tommy and Annika look. When five big boys corner one small one, Pippi does not shout or threaten — she jokes, then calmly hangs each attacker on a branch and walks on. By evening the bullies are humbled, Willie is safe, and two children walk home carrying gifts a pirate would envy.

Original passage written for Garden Heights — not a quotation from the novel.

1Claim: “Pippi planted the ‘found’ treasures for her friends to discover.” — choose the two details that best prove it.Claim & Evidence

2Truly found junk, or Planted or given by Pippi? Tap each detail to sort it — tap again to switch sides. You can keep tapping to change your answer.Sort into two

◄ Truly found junkPlanted or given by Pippi ►

3Match each cause to its result. For each cause, pick its result.Cause & Effect

Five boys corner little Willie→

Bengt mocks Pippi’s hair and shoes→

Pippi secretly plants fine treasures→

The gifts at the gate→

🧠Knowledge Bank question

4Fill both blanks to complete the reasoning.Build the Argument

The Knowledge Bank says Pippi's strength is a picture of fairness because , which shows that .

Part 5

Standardized Test

Who Owns a Found Thing? · SAT & TOEFL-style practice

The Law of Lost Property

The playground rule says 'finders keepers' — but the real rule is more careful. A thing that is truly abandoned, like a rusty can tossed in a ditch, belongs to no one, and any finder may keep it. A valuable thing, like a necklace or a wallet, is different: its owner has only lost it, not given it up. In most countries an honest finder must try to return such a thing — often by handing it to the police — and only if no owner appears may the finder call it their own. Why such fuss over lost property? Because a town runs on trust. If every dropped glove or fallen coin instantly changed owners, no one could relax on a busy street. The law therefore rewards honesty: the finder who hands a treasure in is often thanked, sometimes paid a small reward by a generous owner, and always trusted a little more by the neighbors. A good thing-searcher, it turns out, needs sharp eyes and a fair heart.

Original passage written for Garden Heights — not a quotation from the novel.

1According to the passage, who may keep a truly abandoned thing?TOEFL · Factual Information

2In the passage, a rusty can is one that is ___.SAT · Words in Context

3What should an honest finder do with a lost wallet?SAT · Detail

4In the passage, a “valuable” thing is one that ___.TOEFL · Vocabulary

5When may a finder finally keep a valuable find?SAT · Detail

6According to the passage, why does the law fuss over lost property?TOEFL · Factual Information

7In the passage, a generous owner is one who ___.SAT · Words in Context

8What is the passage mainly about?SAT · Central Ideas

9How does the passage connect to Chapter 2?SAT · Text Connections

10Prose Summary (TOEFL). The passage explains the real rules for keeping found things. This TOEFL task lists six sentences; choose the THREE that best capture the passage’s main ideas. The other three do not belong — they state minor details or ideas the passage does not present.TOEFL · Prose Summary

Part 6 · Optional

Creative Writing

A bonus challenge to practice your English. Take your time and have fun with it.

About This Section

This writing task is optional and is not part of your auto-graded score. The feedback below checks only the basics — length, spelling, and grammar — not whether your ideas are right or wrong. It is meant for classroom discussion and creative practice, so feel free to use your imagination!

Writing Task — Part 2 “The Best Thing I Ever Found”

Pippi says the world is full of things waiting to be found. Write about the best thing you ever found — or the best thing you can imagine finding. Where was it, what did you do with it, and did you try to find its owner? Write at least 40 words.

You can start with: “I could not believe what was lying right there…”

0 / 40 words minimum

🗣 Teach It · Just for Fun (optional)

No right or wrong — close the screen and tell someone nearby what happened in this part. Can’t find anyone? Tell yourself out loud. The moment you teach it, you truly understand it.

Part 2 Complete!

You finished Chapter 2 of Pippi Longstocking.

Here are your auto-graded results:

-

points out of 100

Teach it to someone

The best last step is to teach it. In your own words, explain what happened — retell a favorite scene, teach a character’s big choice, or sum up the main idea for a parent, friend, or classmate. When you can teach it clearly, you truly own it.

Move on to Part 3 →

Independent study guide by Garden Heights. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Astrid Lindgren. Contains original analysis only; no text from the novel is reproduced. Reference text: This workbook follows Astrid Lindgren’s classic text (the standard Puffin edition sold worldwide). Revised 2023 UK editions change some wording and may not match the vocabulary studied here.