The Winner of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2014

”Barbro Lindgren is a literary pioneer. Using adventurous language and rich psychological nuance, she has re-invented not only the picture books for the very young but also the absurd prose story, the existential children’s poem, and realistic young adult fiction. With perfect pitch, she presents to us both playful shenanigans and moments of bright joy, the inscrutable nature of life and the nearness of death.” The citation of the Jury, Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award

A celebration of play and imagination Barbro Lindgren, born in 1937, is a Swedish author whose innovative and multifaceted body of work includes picture books for young children, children’s poetry, plays, realistic fiction for young adults, and more absurd prose stories. In all, she has published over a hundred titles, translated into more than thirty languages. She has also written a number of books for adults. She has a remarkable ability to convey what it was like to be a child. This, in combination with sensitivity to atmosphere and mood, makes her stories so real, so compassionate, that they can sometimes be painfully affecting. Her works command a thematic and stylistic breadth granted to only a few, always with complete trust in the reader’s ability to see beneath the surface. With seemingly simple means and with all-embracing warmth, Barbro Lindgren creates characters that live on long after her books are closed. Her stories are often humorous and always possess a uniquely warm tone of voice that speaks directly to the child, whether she is offering amusing escapades or more serious reflections. Her seemingly simple style recreates atmospheres and moods that resonate with all her readers, regardless of their age. Barbro Lindgren has co-operated with many of Sweden’s most famous and beloved illustrators, among others Eva Eriksson, Olof Landström, Eva Lindström, Camilla Engman, and Pija Lindenbaum.

Selected awards 2014 2009 2007 2004 2004 2003 2003 2002 1999 1991 1991 1989 1977 1976 1973 1973 1970

Nu leker vi den fula ankungen Let’s Play the Ugly Duck We all know H.C. Andersen’s classic fairytale about the baby swan who ends up in a duck family. Let’s Play Ugly Duckling is an ode to play and imagination. It is a fun, whimsical and entirely irresistible picture book. Illustrations by Eva Lindström 200x210 mm, 32 pp, 3–6 years. First published in 2014.

Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award Illis Quorum (golden medal awarded by the Swedish government) The Selma Lagerlöf Foundation Literary Award The Evert Taube Scholarship The Astrid Lindgren Prize awarded by The Society of the Nine Poetry Prize awarded by the Gustaf Fröding Society Prize awarded by The World of Astrid Lindgren The Schullström Prize for Children’s Literature The Emil Prize The Swedish Grammis Award Prize awarded by the Society for Literature Promotion The BMF plaque (with Olof Landström) for Sunkan flyger The Nils Holgersson plaque for Lilla sparvel Literary Award established by the magazine VI The newspaper Expressen’s Heffaklump Rabén & Sjögren’s The Astrid Lindgren Prize The Swedish Grammis Award

Vi leker att vi är pippifåglar Let’s Pretend We’re Baby Birds When you pretend that you are baby birds anything can happen. Two make-believe brothers fly among the clouds, get attacked by eagles and chased by darkness. Suddenly they run out of gas… It’s fun, unpredictable and ingenious!

Rabén & Sjögren Agency Lillevi Cederin [email protected] Kerstin Öberg [email protected] rabensjogren.se/agency

Illustrations by Camilla Engman 230x260 mm, 32 pp, 3–6 years. First published in 2013.

Modern classics for the youngest

Max bil Max’s Car

Max lampa Max’s Lamp Modern classics for the youngest children, brilliant in their humorous simplicity. They are a new kind of picture book, each telling a story of high drama in the life of a small child – in a language so deliberately fragmentary that some educators responded with protest.

Max kaka Max’s Cookie

Illustrations by Eva Eriksson

Max nalle Max’s Teddy

Max dockvagn Max’s Wagon

Max balja Max’s Bath

Max potta Max’s Potty

Max blöja Max’s Nappie

Here Barbro Lindgren provides us yet another example of her perfect pitch: not only does she speak with a child’s voice, but she also never fails to see the world through a child’s eyes.

Max boll Max’s Ball

Max napp Max’s Dummy

The books about Max were first published in the 1980’s. 150x160 mm, 16 pp, 0–3 years.

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det

Mamman och den vilda bebin The Wild Baby

Den vilda bebiresan The Wild Baby Goes to Sea

Vilda bebin får en hund The Wild Baby’s Dog

The classic picture books about a mother and her wild little boy who has adventures that are anything but ordinary. The wild baby is hanging from a ceiling lamp one minute, and taking a bath in the toilet or running off to the woods the next. He does everything a child mustn’t do, and tries his mother severely.

The humorous pictures are enhanced by Barbro Lindgren’s ingenious rhymes, and vice versa. The books were first published in 1980, 1982 and 1985. 200x254 mm, 32 pp, 3–6 years.

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Min egen bok My Own Book A charming book to collect memories with lots of space to note down all the amazing things that happen during the baby’s first year. Filled with illustrations from the Max books.

Andrejs längtan Andrej’s Longing

Stora syster Lille bror Big Sister Little Brother

A beloved and debated picture book that captures a dreamlike atmosphere in the big city of Saint Petersburg. The two small parentless boys, Andrej and Vova, have escaped from the orphanage. Andrej is looking for his mother. She is gone! Andrej thinks back to the time in his mother’s stomach. His life was better then.

Every night Little Brother starts to cry, and every night Big Sister has to comfort him. Helped by kindly neighbors, Little Brother always gets what he wants. The narrator’s voice is warm and funny, in spite of the fact that the story is about humankind’s existential solitude and our fundamental need for security.

200x254 mm, 32 pp, 3–6 years. First published in 1997.

170x210 mm, 32 pp, 3–6 years. First published in 1992.

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215x233 mm, 48 pp. First published in 2001.

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The heartwarming piglet

Illustrations by Olof Landström The books about Benny was first published in 1998, 2001 and 2007

An absurd tale about a world where anything can happen

Nämen Benny Benny’s Had Enough Benny’s mother is cleaning up. First it’s Benny’s potatoes and sticks. She insists on arranging them in neat rows. Then it’s Benny. She wants to give him a bath! And then it’s Little Piggy. She wants to put him in the washing machine. Benny’s had enough. He and Little Piggy run off to find a more congenial home. Nominated for the August Award 1999.

Loranga, Masarin och Dartanjang

Loranga, Loranga

Fore-most among the eccentric cast of characters are Loranga, a father who loves bright orange clothes and wears a tea cozy on his head; his son Masarin, brought up on sweet buns and love; grandfather – Dartanjang, who emerges from his wood­ shed every morning with a new identity;

and a great-grandfather who has moved into a tree, eats birdseed, and thinks he is a cuckoo. They all live a carefree life, untroubled by rules or norms, in a tolerant world. In these absurd tales, anything can happen—is the garage suddenly full of tigers?

The books were first published in 1969 and 1970. Illustrations by the author Approx. 120 pp, 6–9 years.

200x254 mm, 32 pp, 3–6 years.

An upside down world related to Alice and Winnie-the-Pooh

Jamen Benny Benny and the Binky Benny has got a brother. One who is sucking a dummy. Benny would like to taste it as well. He runs away with the dummy when Mummy isn’t looking. That’s when he meets some cool but mean pigs. Benny gets a fright. What luck that a dog appears to help him just at the right moment, barking noisily at the cool pigs… 200x254 mm, 32 pp, 3–6 years. Nöff nöff Benny Oink Oink, Benny

Vems lilla mössa flyger Who’s Little Cap Is Flying

Korken flyger The Cork Is Flying

VLMF Vad lever man för What-Are-We-Living-For

Benny and his brother are tired of being inside. They want to go snuffling about outside for a bit. Off they go to the mud pool even though their mother said they mustn’t. They have a wonderful time and get filthy dirty, but their mother forgives them of course…

Wonderfully quirky and original chapter books where the toys in Child-Hans’ country give us an image of the world in miniature – with all its absurdity, cruelty and zest for living. Their main characters are an old, ragged stuffed dog whose eyes are falling out of its head, a baldheaded teddy bear, an elephant and a Russian muskrat. The cast

also includes a champagne cork, a marble, and a rubber monkey. Wistfulness, melan­ choly, and sorrow are counterbalanced here by vibrant language and quiet humor. The tattered elephant is losing sawdust and in the final book, we witness her funeral. After a refill, however, she returns from the dead. Here, with greater skill than ever,

Barbro Lindgren walks a tightrope between merry and serious – so sure-footedly that we can laugh even at a funeral.

Nominated for the August Award 2007. 200x254 mm, 32 pp, 3–6 years.

The books were first published in 1987, 1990 and 2006. Illustrations by Eva Eriksson Approx. 150 pp, 6–9 years.

A selection of other titles by Barbro Lindgren

Bra Börje Louie

Här är det lilla huset Here is the Little House

Illustrations by Pija Lindenbaum 200x245 mm, 32pp, 3–6 years, 1992.

Illustrations by Eva Eriksson 170x210 mm, 32 pp, 3–6 years, 1994.

Lilla lokomotivet Rosa Rosa, the Little Train Engine

Julia vill ha ett djur Julia Wants a Pet

Dollans dagis Dollan’s Day Care

Illustrations by Eva Eriksson 195x215 mm, 32 pp, 3–6 years, 1995.

Illustrations by Eva Eriksson 200x254 mm, 32 pp, 3–6 years, 2002.

Illustrations by Eva Eriksson 170x210 mm, 32 pp, 3–6 years, 2009.

Gröngölingen är på väg:   dikter för barn och andra The Green Woodpecker Is On His Way   Poems for children and others Illustrations by Katarina Olausson Säll 150x180 mm, 56pp, 6–9 years, 1974.

Dagbok från hönshuset Journal from the Chicken Coop Illustrations by Kristina Digman 170x210 mm, 64 pp, 3–6 years, 2010.