[6][7][8] Despite periodic attempts by village authorities to make her conform to cultural expectations of what a child's life should be, Pippi happily lives free from social conventions.

[9][10] According to Eva-Maria Metcalf, Pippi "loves her freckles and her tattered clothes; she makes not the slightest attempt to suppress her wild imagination, or to adopt good manners.

"[12] Although she is the self-proclaimed "strongest girl in the world", Pippi often uses nonviolence to solve conflicts, via guile, creativity with facts, and misdirection, such as to protect other children from bullying or excuse her chronic truancy.

[13][14] Pippi has been variously described by literary critics as "warm-hearted",[9] compassionate,[15] kind,[16] clever,[7] generous,[9][17] playful,[18] and witty to the point of besting adult characters in conversation.

[9] Laura Hoffeld wrote that while Pippi's "naturalness entails selfishness, ignorance, and a marked propensity to lie", the character "is simultaneously generous, quick and wise, and true to herself and others.

"[19] The inspiration for her father, Captain Ephraim Longstocking, came from the real life Carl Emil Pettersson, a Swedish sailor who became king of Tabar Island in Papua New Guinea after he was shipwrecked in 1904.

[8] Biographer Jens Andersen locates a range of influences and inspiration for Pippi not only within educational theories of the 1930s, such as those of A. S. Neill and Bertrand Russell, but also contemporary films and comics that featured "preternaturally strong characters" (e.g. Superman and Tarzan).

[20] Literary inspiration for the character can be found in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, E. T. A. Hoffmann's The Strange Child, Anne of Green Gables, and Daddy Long Legs in addition to myths, fairytales, and legends.

[23] In April 1944, while recovering from a twisted ankle, Lindgren wrote her stories about Pippi in shorthand, a method she used throughout her writing career; a copy of the clean manuscript was turned into a homemade book for Karin and given to her on May 21, while another was posted to publisher Bonnier Förlag, where it was rejected in September on the grounds of being "too advanced.

Olenius advised her to revise some of the "graphic" elements, such as a full chamber pot being used as a fire extinguisher, and then to enter it into the upcoming competition at Rabén and Sjögren, which was for books targeted at children between the ages of six and ten.

[43] Another factor in the book's success was two positive reviews by the influential Swedish critics of children's culture, Eva von Zweigbergk and Greta Bolin, writing for Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet, respectively; they praised the main character as "a liberatory force.

[45] Subsequent reviews of Pippi Longstocking echoed the general opinions of von Zweigbergk and Bolin towards the book, until John Landquist's criticism in an August 1946 piece published in Aftonbladet, titled "BAD AND PRIZEWINNING.

[52] Eva-Maria Metcalf has argued that Pippi was subject to a "double distancing" as both a foreign character and one believed to be nonsensical, thus minimizing her potentially subversive actions that had stirred the minor controversy earlier in Sweden.

[57] Inger Nilsson starred as Pippi, and upon the broadcast of the television series, she became a celebrity along with her co-stars Pär Sundberg and Maria Persson, who played Tommy and Annika respectively.

"[71] In 100 Best Books for Children, Anita Silvey praised the character as "the perfect fantasy heroine — one who lives without supervision but with endless money to execute her schemes.

A censored edition of Pippi Longstocking appeared in France, with changes made to her character to make her "a fine young lady" instead of "a strange, maladjusted child.

"[72][clarification needed] In 1995, an uncensored version of Pippi Longstocking was released in France, which "shook" French readers, although the book did not reach the cultural status as it had in Germany and Sweden.