Scandinavia

As well as trakhing down historical fiction I am also compiling lists of fiction set in other countries not just by authors of those countries but also by other authors who can make the culture of that country come alive. For no good reason I am starting off with Scandinavia. I have so far failed to find anything Norwegian of Finnish (excepting Tove Jannson) so this page is limited to Denmark and Sweden for the time being.

Denmark

Both of these books are set during in WW2. Look at my Viking post for the only other historical period that counts apparently.
Hitler’s canary by Sandi Tostvig
Number the stars by Lois Lowry.

Sweden

Luckily for Sweden there is one famous children's author. Now can we guess who it is?
Emil and the sneaky rat by Astrid Lindgren. Part of a series about a small boy.
Karlson flies again by Astrid Lindgren
Little O by Edith Unnerstad. Little O is the youngest of a large family.
Lotta says no by Astrid Lindgren
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
The Shipwreck by Jorn Reil. A Viking boy is shipwrecked and rescued by 2 Inuit children
The Spettecake holiday by Edith Unnerstad

Islamic civilisations

Abraham Hannibal and the battle for the throne by Frances Somers Cocks. Set in the early 1700s, an Ethiopian Prince is kidnapped and sold as a slave to the Ottoman court.
Crusade by Elizabeth Laird. Story of two boys during the children’s crusade, one English and the other Muslim.
Seven wise Princesses. Barefoot books. Based on a medieaval Persian poem.
Stories of the Caliphs: the early rulers of Islam by Denys Johnson Davies, 2011. After the death of the Prophet Muhammad, there followed many leaders of the Muslim world who were known as Caliphs. These successors to the Prophet ruled first of all from Medina, then from Damascus and later from Baghdad, over an empire that included a large part of the world. This book includes twenty-seven stories from the lives of those first Caliphs, from the pious Umar ibn al-Khattab to the celebrated Haroun al-Rashid.
The army of lions by Qasim Najar, 1996. A mighty warrior and an evil warlord face off in the fabled lands of North Africa and Southern Spain during the medieval Muslim period.
The stone: a Persian legend of the Magi by Dianne Hofmeyr and Jude Daly, 2005 In the ancient Persian town of Saveh, astronomers discover a star that fills the sky with a fiery light. Intrigued, they search through their scrolls and come across the legend of a remarkable baby. They set off with precious gifts to honour the child, and in return he gives them a small stone.

Also worth looking for a retelling of 1001 and one Arabian nights.