Tag Archives: Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award

Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2019

Posted on by
Bart Moeyaert

Flemish author Bart Moeyaert is the winner of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2019, the world’s largest award for children’s and young adult literature. The award amounts to 5 million Swedish krona (approx. $613,000 or EUR 500 000) and is given annually to a single laureate or to several.

Bart Moeyaert was born in 1964 and lives in Antwerp, Belgium. He made his debut at age 19 with the award-winning novel Duet met valse noten (1983). His large and diverse body of work includes more than 50 titles, ranging from picture books and YA novels to poetry. His critically acclaimed books have been translated in more than 20 countries. He also writes television screenplays and stage plays, has translated a number of novels, and teaches creative writing.

“When I was nine I read Astrid Lindgren’s books and the world of Astrid Lindgren was like my own family and the real world was like hers. And later I saw that her world was about inclusion. And that was comforting because I was a loner in my big family since I was the youngest. And this influenced my work. I want to broaden the borders of children’s literature,” says Bart Moeyaert when he was informed about the award.

The jury’s citation reads:

Bart Moeyaert’s condensed and musical language vibrates with suppressed emotions and unspoken desires. He portrays relationships at crisis point with a cinematic immediacy, even as his complex narratives suggest new ways forward. Bart Moeyaert’s luminous work underscores the fact that books for children and young people have a self-evident place in world literature.

Body of work: Bart Moeyaert works in shades of grey. He draws no easy lines between good and evil, heroes and villains. Instead, he puts complex relationships under the loupe. We find motives for his characters’ actions in the periphery of the stories: perhaps an absence, or a brokenness, or some lack we sense but never see. Nor does Moeyaert serve up clear-cut happy endings. Instead, the onward path reveals itself in a comprehension of the circumstances and in the characters themselves.

Selected books: His latest novel, Tegenwoordig heet iedereen Sorry (Everybody’s Sorry Nowadays), was published in October 2018 and is a razor-sharp, emotionally charged portrait of twelve-year-old Bianca. The masterpiece Het is de liefde die we niet begrijpen (1999, It’s Love We Don’t Understand) tells the story of a family coming apart at the seams, as seen through the eyes of a fifteen-year-old girl. The pulse-racing drama Blote handen (1995, Bare Hands), winner of the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis, describes a boy’s tumultuous feelings and takes place on an eventful New Year’s Eve. In the autobiographical Broere (2002, Brothers), Moeyaert writes with warmth and humor about growing up as the youngest of seven brothers. The book was adapted for the stage (with Moeyaert himself in a role) and received the prestigious Woutertje Pieterse Prijs.

[Based on a press release.]

2019 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award Candidates

Posted on by


LeVar Burton, Judy Blume, Patrick Ness and Eric Carle are among the 246 candidates from 64 countries nominated to the 2019 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. The candidates were presented at the Frankfurt Book Fair on October 11 by ALMA-jury chair Boel Westin.

Worth 5 million Swedish kronor, the world’s largest cash prize for children’s literature is given to authors, illustrators, oral storytellers and reading promoters for work “of the highest artistic quality” featuring the “humanistic values” of the late Pippi Longstocking author, for whom the award is named. Lindgren died in 2002 at the age of 94.

To increase the global aspect, every year the jury chooses institutions and organisations from all over the world invited to nominate candidates for the award. A prerequisit of the nomination bodies is that they have a good overview and knowledge of authors, illustrators, storytellers and reading promotion activities in their countries or language areas.

The 2019 ALMA laureate will be announced on April 2, 2019.

Links lead to more information, often in the candidate’s own language. (Apologies for the appearance of “?” where WordPress won’t reproduce the appropriate character.)

Antigua and Barbuda
Joy Lawrence, Promoter of reading

Argentina
Maria Teresa Andruetto, Author http://teresaandruetto.com.ar/
CEDILIJ, Organisation
Jorge Luján, Author
Istvansch Schritter, Author/Illustrator/Promoter of reading Web page

Australia
Randa Abdel-Fattah, Author Web page
Ursula Dubosarsky, Author Web page
Mem Fox, Author https://memfox.com/
Susanne Gervay, Author Web page
Morris Gleitzman, Author https://www.morrisgleitzman.com/
Indigenous Literary Foundation, Organisation Web page
Robert Ingpen, Illustrator http://robertingpen.com/about/
Margo Lanagan, Author Web page
Melina Marchetta, Author Web page
Margaret Wild, Author Web page

Austria
Renate Welsh-Rabady, Author
Linda Wolfsgruber, Illustrator Web page
Lisbeth Zwerger, Illustrator

Azerbaijan
Gasham Isabayli, Author
Sevinj Nurugizi, Author https://muse.jhu.edu/article/539721

Belgium
Carll Cneut, Illustrator
Anne Herbauts, Author/Illustrator Web page
Bart Moeyaert, Author http://www.bartmoeyaert.com/
Prix Bernard Versele, Organisation
Marie Wabbes, Author/Illustrator https://www.mariewabbes.com/
Klaas Verplancke, Author/Illustrator https://www.klaas.be/

Bolivia
Biblioteca Thurucapitas, Organisation
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Šimo Eši?, Author
Fahrudin Ku?uk, Author

Brazil
Ana Maria Machado, Author Web page
Roger Mello, Author/Illustrator Web page

Bulgaria
Maya Dalgacheva, Author
Viktor Samuilov, Author
Julia Spiridonova, Author
Lyuben Zidarov, Illustrator

Canada
Deborah Ellis, Author http://deborahellis.com/
Sarah Ellis, Author http://sarahellis.ca/
Marie-Francine Hébert, Author Web page
Troy Kent, Promoter of reading http://www.troykent.com/
Jon Klassen, Author/Illustrator http://jonklassen.tumblr.com/

China
Zhang Zhilu, Author
Democratic Republic of Congo/United Kingdom
Dominique Mwankumi, Author/Illustrator

Croatia
Andrea Petrlik Huseinovi?, Illustrator Web page
Read to Me Campaign, Organisation Web page

Cyprus
Maria Pyliotou, Author Web page
Czech Republic
Petr Nikl, Author/Illustrator
Kv?ta Pacovská, Illustrator

Denmark
Kim Fupz Aakeson, Author
Lilian Brøgger, Illustrator Web page
Louis Jensen, Author Web page
Dorte Karrebaek, Illustrator

Ecuador
Edna Iturralde, Author Web page

Estonia
Piret Raud, Author http://piretraud.com/
Ulla Saar, Illustrator http://www.ullasaar.net/
Leelo Tungal, Author

Faroe Islands
Rakel Helmsdal, Author/Illustrator/Oral storyteller/Promoter of reading

Finland
Linda Bondestam, Illustrator http://www.lindabondestam.com/
Marika Maijala, Author/Illustrator Web page
Timo Parvela, Author http://timoparvela.fi/en/
Laura Ruohonen & Erika Kallasmaa, Author and Illustrator Web pag Laura and Web pag Erika
Salla Savolainen, Author/Illustrator Web page
Maria Turtschaninoff, Author Web page

France
A.C.C.E.S., Organisation Web page
Benjamin Chaud, Author/Illustrator Web page
Les Doigts qui rêvent, Organisation http://www.ldqr.org/
Olivier Douzou, Author/Illustrator Web page Timothée de Fombelle, Author Web page
Bernard Friot, Author Web page
Jean-Claude Mourlevat, Author Web page
Marie-Aude Murail, Author
Geneviéve Patte, Promoter of reading https://laissezleslire.com/
Marjane Satrapi, Author/Illustrator Web page
Joann Sfar, Author/Illustrator

Georgia
Bondo Matsaberidze, Author Web page
Tea Topuria, Author Web page

Germany
Aljoscha Blau, Illustrator http://www.aljoschablau.com/
Nadia Budde, Author/Illustrator http://www.nadiabudde.de/
Cornelia Funke, Author/Illustrator Web page
Nikolaus Heidelbach, Illustrator
International Youth Library, Organisation Web page
Janosch, Author/Illustrator
Labor Ateliergemeinschaft, Organisation Web page
Eva Muggenthaler, Author/Illustrator Web page
Mirjam Pressler, Author Web page
Stiftung Lesen/German Reading Foundation, Organisation Web page

Greece
Vagelis Iliopoulos, Author/Promoter of reading
Library4all, Organisation Web page
Antonis Papatheodoulou, Author Web page
Yolanda Pateraki, Author
Eugene Trivizas, Author

Greenland
Naja Rosing-Asvid, Author/Illustrator Web page
Lene Therkildsen, Promoter of reading Web page

Hungary
Istvan Csukas, Author
Hungarian Fairy Tale and Story Museum, Organisation Web page
János Lackfi, Author Web page
Tibor Zalán, Author

Iceland
Ævar Þór Benediktsson, Promoter of reading Web page

India
A & A Book Trust, Organisation Web page
Katha, Organisation https://katha.org/
Pratham Books, Organisation Web page

Indonesia
Murti Bunanta, Promoter of reading Web page

Iran
Children’s Book Council, Organisation Web page
Farhad Hassanzadeh, Author http://farhadhasanzadeh.com/en/
Jamshid Khanian, Author Web page
Mobile Library of Iran, Organisation
Narges Mohammadi, Illustrator Web page
Houshang Moradi Kermani, Author
Read with Me, Organisation https://khanak.org/en/
Aliasghar Seidabadi, Promoter of reading Web page

Ireland
Chris Judge, Author http://www.chrisjudge.com/
PJ Lynch, Illustrator http://www.pjlynchgallery.com/
Sheena Wilkinson, Author Web page
Israel
Rutu Modan, Author/Illustrator

Italy
Beatrice Alemagna, Author/Illustrator Web page
Chiara Carminati, Author
Lampedusa Library, Organisation
Sarolta Szulyovszky, Illustrator Web page

Ivory Coast
Fatou Keita, Author/Promoter of reading

Japan
Kyoko Matsuoka, Promoter of reading http://www.tcl.or.jp/

Jordan
Taghrid al-Najjar, Author
Republic of Korea
Heena Baek, Illustrator
Lee Juyoung, Promoter of reading
Lee Uk-Bae, Illustrator

Latvia
Gundega Muzikante, Illustrator Web page
Inese Zandere, Author Web page

Lebanon/Belgium
Fatima Sharafeddine, Author Web page

Lithuania
Kestutis Kasparavicius, Author/Illustrator Web page

Mexico
Silvia Dubovoy, Author

Netherlands
De Schrijverscentrale, Organisation Web page
Joke van Leeuwen, Author/Illustrator Web page
Gideon Samson, Author http://www.gideonsamson.nl/
Toon Tellegen, Author
Thé Tjong-Khing, Illustrator https://www.thetjongkhing.nl/
Marit Törnqvist, Author/Illustrator
Edward van de Vendel, Author
Sylvia Weve, Illustrator http://www.sylviaweve.com/?home

New Zealand
Joy Cowley, Author/Promoter of reading

Nicaragua
German Nicaraguan Library and the Bibliobús Bertold Brecht, Organisation Web page

Norway
Lene Ask, Illustrator http://leneask.blogspot.com/
Rune Belsvik, Author Web page
Gro Dahle, Author Web page
Harald Rosenløw Eeg, Author http://roseeg.no/?page_id=45
Fam Ekman, Author/Illustrator
Anna Fiske, Author/Illustrator http://annafiske.com/
Foreningen !les, Organisation Web page
Stian Hole, Author/Illustrator
Marit Kaldhol, Author Web page
Gry Moursund, Author/Illustrator
Svein Nyhus, Author/Illustrator Web page
Maria Parr, Author Web page
Bjørn Rørvik, Author
Øyvind Torseter, Illustrator Web page

Palestine
Sonia Nimr, Author

Philippines
Virgilio Senadren Almario, Author
Neni Sta. Romana Cruz, Promoter of reading

Poland
All of Poland Reads to Kids, Organisation Web page
Ola Cie?lak, Illustrator http://olazbloku.pl/
Ma?gorzata Musierowicz, Author Web page
Pawe? Pawlak, Illustrator
Marcin Szczygielski, Author
Józef Wilko?, Illustrator Web page

Portugal
Andante, Organisation http://www.andante.com.pt/
Bernardo P. Carvalho, Illustrator Web page
Maria Teresa Maia Gonzales, Author
Luísa Ducla Soares, Author
Catarina Sobral, Illustrator http://catarinasobral.com/

Romania
Silviu Baias, Illustrator
Andrea Kürti, Illustrator https://kurtiandi.com/
Cristiana Radu, Illustrator https://cristianaradu.com/

Russian Federation
Anastasia Arkhipova, Illustrator Web page
Nina Dashevskaya, Author
Russian State Children´s Library, Organisation
Alexander Traugot, Illustrator
Mikhail Yasnov, Author

Serbia
Ljubivoje Ršumovi?, Author

Slovenia
Slavko Pregl, Author
Anja Štefan, Author

South Africa
Biblionef, Organisation http://www.biblionefsa.org.za/
Niki Daly, Author/Illustrator https://nikidaly.wordpress.com/
Gcina Mhlope, Author/Oral storyteller/Promoter of reading Web page
Beverley Naidoo, Author http://www.beverleynaidoo.com/
The Bookery, Organisation https://thebookery.org.za/

Spain
Fundaciò Jordi Sierra i Fabra, Organisation Web page
Alfredo Gómez Cerdá, Author Web page
Elena Odriozola, Illustrator http://elenaodriozola.blogspot.com/

Sweden
Eva Eriksson, Illustrator Web page
Joanna Hellgren, Illustrator http://www.joannahellgren.com/
Olof Landström, Illustrator
Pija Lindenbaum, Author/Illustrator Web page
Eva Lindström, Author/Illustrator Web page
Frida Nilsson, Author Web page
Anna-Clara Tidholm, Illustrator Web page
Thomas Tidholm, Author http://www.thomas.tidholm.se/
Cecilia Torudd, Author/Illustrator
Jakob Wegelius, Author/Illustrator http://www.jakobwegelius.com/
Ilon Wikland, Illustrator
Monica Zak, Author Web page

Switzerland
Albertine, Illustrator http://www.albertine.ch/
Franz Hohler, Author http://www.franzhohler.ch/

Taiwan
Jimmy Liao, Author/Illustrator http://www.jimmyspa.com/

Turkey
Çocuk Vakf? (Children’s Foundation), Organisation Web page
Fatih Erdo?an, Author/Promoter of reading Web page

Ukraine
Kost Lavro, Illustrator Web page
Zirka Menzatiuk, Author

United Kingdom
Allan Ahlberg, Author Web page
David Almond, Author http://davidalmond.com/
Malorie Blackman, Author https://www.malorieblackman.co.uk/
Quentin Blake, Illustrator https://www.quentinblake.com/
Book Aid International, Organisation https://bookaid.org/
Aidan Chambers, Author http://www.aidanchambers.co.uk/
Aidan & Nancy Chambers, Promoters of reading Web page
Michael Foreman, Author/Illustrator Web page
Daniel Hahn, Promoter of reading http://www.danielhahn.co.uk/
Shirley Hughes, Author/Illustrator Web page
Oliver Jeffers, Author/Illustrator http://www.oliverjeffers.com/
Elizabeth Laird, Author http://www.elizabethlaird.co.uk/
Michelle Magorian, Author http://www.michellemagorian.com/
Margaret Meek Spencer, Promoter of reading
Daniel Morden, Author/Oral storyteller
Michael Morpurgo, Author https://www.michaelmorpurgo.com/
Patrick Ness, Author https://patrickness.com/
Luke Pearson, Author/Illustrator https://lukepearson.com/
Jan Pienkowski, Illustrator http://www.janpienkowski.com/home.htm
Chris Riddell, Illustrator http://www.chrisriddell.co.uk/
Katherine Rundell, Author Web page
Marcus Sedgwick, Author https://marcussedgwick.com/
John Shelley, Illustrator https://www.jshelley.com/
David Wood, Author http://www.davidwood.org.uk/

United States
Laurie Halse Anderson, Author http://madwomanintheforest.com/
Judy Blume, Author http://www.judyblume.com/
LeVar Burton, Promoter of reading
Eric Carle, Author/Illustrator http://www.eric-carle.com/home.html
Children’s Literature New England, Organisation http://clne.org/
Kate DiCamillo, Author https://www.katedicamillo.com/
Margarita Engle, Author http://www.margaritaengle.com/
Maira Kalman, Author/Illustrator http://www.mairakalman.com/
Stephen Krashen, Promoter of reading http://www.sdkrashen.com/
Gregory Maguire, Author/Promoter of reading Web page
Christopher Myers, Author/Illustrator http://www.kalyban.com/
Neighborhood Bridges, Organisation Web page
Peter Sís, Illustrator http://petersis.com/
Tim Tingle, Oral storyteller http://www.timtingle.com/
Mildred Taylor, Author
Jack Zipes, Author/Promoter of reading

Zambia
Lubuto Library Partners, Organisation https://www.lubuto.org/

Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2018

Posted on by

Jacqueline Woodson

Brooklyn author Jacqueline Woodson is the winner of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2018, the world’s largest award for children’s and young adult literature. The award amounts to 5 million Swedish krona (approx. $613,000 or EUR 500 000) and is given annually to a single laureate or to several. The award will be presented by H.R.H. Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden in a ceremony at the Stockholm Concert Hall on May 28.

Woodson is the author of more than thirty books, including novels, poetry and picture books. She writes primarily for young teens, but also for children and adults. One of her most lauded books is the award winning autobiographical Brown Girl Dreaming (2014).

The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award citation reads:

Jacqueline Woodson introduces us to resilient young people fighting to find a place where their lives can take root. In language as light as air, she tells stories of resounding richness and depth. Jacqueline Woodson captures a unique poetic note in a daily reality divided between sorrow and hope.

Jacqueline Woodson frequently writes about teens making the transition from childhood to adult life. Masterful characterization and a deep understanding of the adolescent psyche are hallmarks of her work. Her books are written in the first person, usually from a female point of view. Racism, segregation, economic injustice, social exclusion, prejudice and sexual identity are all recurring themes. In January she was named National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature in the United States.

“It’s important to hold up mirrors for kids to see their experience is legitimate. Too often those mirrors aren’t there for them,” says Woodson.

Woodson made her authorial debut in 1990 with Last Summer With Maizon, the first book in a trilogy about a friendship between two girls. The Dear One, a story about teen pregnancy, came out the same year. After Tupac and D Foster (2008) is a story about the meaning of everything, about freedom and realizing that all is not what it seems. Passionate, lightning-bolt love is portrayed in If You Come Softly (1998). In Beneath A Meth Moon (2012), the fifteen-year-old protagonist must face uncomfortable memories to leave her past behind and break free of a drug addiction.

In Brown Girl Dreaming, a free-verse memoir for which she received the prestigious National Book Award, Woodson not only describes her own childhood in South Carolina and later New York, but also shines a light on African-American history. The young Jacqueline grew up in the 1960s and 1970s, decades marked in the US by civil rights marches, police brutality and violence. The book’s detailed descriptions of characters and settings reveal fault lines in society, pointing out the differences between different groups. Woodson’s most recent novel, Another Brooklyn, published in 2016 and a National Book Award nominee, portrays the fascination and challenges of growing up as a young girl in the Brooklyn of the 1970s.

Her books have been translated into more than ten languages.Woodson’s many honours include the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the Newbery Honor Awards.

A complete list of Jacqueline Woodson’s works is at www.alma.se/en under the heading Laureates.

A quote from the author’s website, www.jacquelinewoodson.com —

I wrote on everything and everywhere. I remember my uncle catching me writing my name in graffiti on the side of a building. (It was not pretty for me when my mother found out.) I wrote on paper bags and my shoes and denim binders. I chalked stories across sidewalks and penciled tiny tales in notebook margins. I loved and still love watching words flower into sentences and sentences blossom into stories.

I also told a lot of stories as a child. Not “Once upon a time” stories but basically, outright lies. I loved lying and getting away with it! There was something about telling the lie-story and seeing your friends’ eyes grow wide with wonder. Of course I got in trouble for lying but I didn’t stop until fifth grade.

That year, I wrote a story and my teacher said “This is really good.” Before that I had written a poem about Martin Luther King that was, I guess, so good no one believed I wrote it. After lots of brouhaha, it was believed finally that I had indeed penned the poem which went on to win me a Scrabble game and local acclaim. So by the time the story rolled around and the words “This is really good” came out of the otherwise down-turned lips of my fifth grade teacher, I was well on my way to understanding that a lie on the page was a whole different animal — one that won you prizes and got surly teachers to smile. A lie on the page meant lots of independent time to create your stories and the freedom to sit hunched over the pages of your notebook without people thinking you were strange.

 [Based on a press release.]

2018 Astrid Lindgren Award Nominees

Posted on by


Neil Gaiman, Ursula K.Le Guin, Judy Blume and Eric Carle are among the nominees for the 2018 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, worth 5 million krona, the world’s largest cash prize for children’s literature.

The award is given to authors, illustrators, oral storytellers and reading promoters for work “of the highest artistic quality” featuring the “humanistic values” of the late Pippi Longstocking author, for whom the award is named. Lindgren died in 2002 at the age of 94.

The 235 candidates from 60 countries nominated for the 2018 award were named at the Frankfurt Book Fair on October 12. The winner will be announced on March 27, 2018.

The list of nominated candidates is presented in alphabetical order following the jump. Links lead to more information, often in the candidate’s own language. (Apologies for the appearance of “?” where WordPress won’t reproduce the appropriate character.)

Continue reading →

Erlbruch Wins 2017 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award

Posted on by

Wolf Erlbruch, a German illustrator and picturebook author, has won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the world’s largest cash prize for children’s literature. The award jury selected Erlbruch out of 226 candidates from 60 countries.

The 5 million Swedish krona award honors the entire body of an author’s work. The award is administered by the Swedish Arts Council. It is given authors, illustrators, oral storytellers and reading promoters for work “of the highest artistic quality” featuring the “humanistic values” of the late Pippi Longstocking author, for whom the award is named. Lindgren died in 2002 at the age of 94.

He is best known for his illustrations of The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew It Was None of His Business (1994) – a book about an angry little mole who gets poop on his head and sets out to track down the guilty party. Wolf Erlbruch has written ten books of his own and illustrated nearly fifty titles by other authors.

The jury citation reads:

Wolf Erlbruch makes existential questions accessible and manageable for readers of all ages. With humour and warmth deeply rooted in humanist ideals, his work presents the universe on our scale. He is a master of the illustrator’s art who honours tradition whilst opening new creative doors. Wolf Erlbruch is a careful and caring visionary.

His Duck, Death and the Tulip (2008), a tender story in which little Duck gets a visit from Death, has been hailed as a modern classic and often described as the most beautiful book ever published about death.

Erlbruch has received numerous awards, including the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis and the Hans Christian Andersen Award for his complete works.

The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award will be presented by H.R.H. Crown Princess Victoria in a ceremony at the Stockholm Concert Hall on May 29.

Drawing from the book Duck, Death and the Tulip (Ente, Tod und Tulpe)

[Based on the press release.]

2016 Lindgren Award Nominees

Posted on by

The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award is the world’s largest cash prize for children’s literature.

Administered by the Swedish Arts Council, the 5 million krona award honors the entire body of an author’s work.

It is given authors, illustrators, oral storytellers and reading promoters for work “of the highest artistic quality” featuring the “humanistic values” of the late Pippi Longstocking author, for whom the award is named. Lindgren died in 2002 at the age of 94.

A total of 226 candidates from 60 countries are nominated for the 2016 award. The list was published at the Frankfurt Book Fair on October 20, 2016. The winner will be announced April 4, 2017.

The list of nominated candidates is presented in alphabetical order following the jump. Links lead to more information, often in the candidate’s own language.
Continue reading →

Meg Rosoff Wins Lindgren Award

Posted on by

Meg Rosoff, known for novels like How I Live Now and Just In Case, is the 2016 winner of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the world’s largest cash prize for children’s literature.

The 5 million Swedish krona award honors the entire body of an author’s work. The award jury selected Rosoff out of 215 candidates from 59 countries.

The Astrid Lindgren memorial award is administered by the Swedish Arts Council. It is given authors, illustrators, oral storytellers and reading promoters for work “of the highest artistic quality” featuring the “humanistic values” of the late Pippi Longstocking author, for whom the award is named. Lindgren died in 2002 at the age of 94.

Rosoff told The Guardian Pippi Longstocking was “absolutely a hero of mine when I was a kid, because she was a maverick. I was told my whole life that I needed to be a nice girl, and then there’s Pippi in huge boots carrying a horse around. I couldn’t have had a better hero.”

Shaun Tan Wins Children’s Lit Award

Posted on by

Shaun Tan

Australian author/illustrator Shaun Tan has won the 2011 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, reports Publishers Weekly. It is the biggest prize for children’s and young adult literature, worth five million Swedish krona.

Melbourne-based Tan has illustrated more than 20 books, including The Rabbits (1998), The Lost Thing (2000), The Red Tree (2001), The Arrival (2006) and Tales from Outer Suburbia (2008).

His award citation, quoted in The Australian, reads: “Shaun Tan has reinvented the picture book by creating visually spectacular pictorial narratives with a constant human presence.”

[Thanks to Michael J. Walsh and Andrew Porter for the story.]