Astrid Lindgren Astrid Lindgren is Sweden's most read and appreacheated authors. Since the first book about Pippi Longstocking, 50 years ago she has entertained generations of kids all over the world (and their parents).
Astrid was born in november 1907 in the south of Sweden. She grew up with her family in a small village called Vimmerby. Her father, Samuel August Ericsson made a living as a farmer and by renting out his house to priests. Astrids mother was a housewife, Hanna Ericsson was her name. Astrid had also two sisters and a brother, Stina, Ingegerd and Gunnar. They all lived out on the countryside, much like farmers. It was from this environment she got her inspiration for her future books. After finishing school she moved to the capital, Stockholm were she educated herself as a secretary. After a few years ( 1931 ) she got married to Sture Lindgren and got her name Astrid Lindgren They got two children together, Karin and Lars.
Bibliography
Astrid started writing rather late in her life, 1941. She was then 34 years old.It started like this; Astrids young daughter, Karin laid in her bed sick one day and asked her mother to read a story for her.What do you want me to read, asked Astrid. Karin answered like this, tell me a story about Pippi Långstrump.Astrid didn´t ask who Pippi was, she just started to make up a girl, a strange girl with a strange name.
Her great popularity began in 1945 with the creation of Pippi Långstrump (Pippi Longstocking), the first of three books with Pippi as its main character.This strangely dressed girl living alone with her horse and her ape, having great wealth and enormous physical strength. It´s every childs dream of freedom and power. (It's easy to see the resemblance between the town where Pippi lives and the small-town Vimmerby in Småland where the author was born.) Pippi Longstocking, Lilla Gubben & Mr Nilsson
It was after her Pippi Longstocking books that her writing carrier started to get serious.After 1941, Astrid Lingren has written over onehundred book, this is some of the most famous books in order. Mästerdetektiven Blomkvist( Masterdetective Blomquist ), Barnen i Bullerbyn ( The children of the Noisyvillage ), Kajsa Kavat( Brenda Brave ), Mio min Mio( Mio, my son)Karlsson på taket( Karlsson on the roof), Madicken (Mardie's adventures), Emil i Lönneberga, Barnen på Saltkråkan(Seacrow Island), Bröderna Lejonhjärta(The Brothers Lionheart), Ronja Rövardotter (Ronja, the Robber's Daughter).Everyone of these books are translated to at least a few languages, some of them are translated into over 30 languages all over the world.
Astrid in the eyes of the children
Almost every person in Sweden knows who Astrid Lingren is. If you ask a 10 year old boy or a girl which Lingren-books he/she have read, the answer could be very long. She is loved by every little kid, and sometimes adults too. The Swedish children is very educated when it comes to Astrid and her books. The biggest favourites among 10 year olds are Pippi Longstocking, Mio my son, Emil i Lönneberga and Karlsson on the roof. Many of Astrids books are made as films. For example, The brothers Lionheart, The children in the Noisyvillage, Ronja the Robber´s daughter, Mardie´s adventures. The Swedish children start to read Astrids books at the age of four or five. It is very good books for the parents to read for their children. Allmost all of the books mentioned are read in school and at home when the kids are young.
Prizes and rewards
Astrid has often been mentioned as a candidate for a position in the Swedish Academy, but nobody has received such a position from "just" writing children's books. She is a very rewarded author, I really don´t know how many prizes she have gotten but here is some of them;
1957 The Swedish State Award for Writers of High Literary Standard - Astrid Lindgren is the first children's literature author to receive this award. 1971 The Swedish Academy's Gold Medal. 1985 With over 2 million yearly borrowals in the Swedish Public libraries, Astrid Lindgren is the most often read Swedish author. (Gold Medal awarded by the Swedish Government award) Nobelprize Astrid has not achieved a Nobelprize yet, but we Swedish people and perhaps many others think it´s a shame that she hasn´t.
Political work
Since the 1980s, Astrid Lindgren has also been playing an important political role for the protection of children and animals. Still in the mid-1990:ies Astrid Lindgren i n her high age appears in radio as a defender of vulnerable children and animals, as for instance for a 11 years old girl threatened by deportation after eight years in Sweden.
90 years old this year
The 14th of November 1997 is a date to remember. It´s the day when Astrid Lindgren eats her 90th birthdaycake. We would like to thank her for all the good things that she has done for the humanity. Because she isn't just a superb writer she has also worked with charity for a long time. For all the good things that she has done we would like to give her a special Nobelprize of ours.
The world of Astrid Lindgren
"The world of Astrid Lindgren, where fairytales become reality" The park is situated in Vimmerby, the birthplace of Astrid Lindgren and it´s something quite unique. It is a fairytale park where the character from the books have come to life in the different settings. If you would like to have some more information about this park you can search the internet with this adress, http://www.alv.se/
In Sweden we often put our most famous and loved people on stamps to honour them. Astrid is of course such a person. On some other stamps you can find famous people like, our king Carl XVI Gustav, Peter Forsberg, Björn Borg and many others.

Written by: Jocke Lundin, Thomas Wågberg och Johan Näslund.
HTML by: Daniel Frisk