ASTRID LINDGREN Biography - Writers

 
 

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ASTRID LINDGREN

Astrid Lindgren was born Astrid Ericsson on November 14, 1907 on a farm called       
Nas outside the small town of Vimmerby in Sweden. As a child, Astrid loved to         
read, particularly books which had girls as the heroine. She loved Anne of Green     
Gables and the Pollyanna books (1). One of her strongest recollections as a           
child was meeting two pilots, Captains Sonders & Madicken. One of them tried to       
land on the roof of her house, or that is the way it looked at the time. After       
attending public school, she moved to Stockholm and married Sture Lindgren. The       
Lindgrens had two children. She wrote her first story, Britt-Mari Opens Her           
Heart in 1944. Her second book,Pippi Longstocking, which she wrote as a present       
for her daughter's tenth birthday was published in 1945 (2). She received the         
Raben & Sjogren's Best Children's Book prize for Pippi and became a book editor       
for that publisher for many years. Her husband Sture died in 1952.                   
                                                                                     
The wholesome fun of Lindgren's books is captured at the Astrid Lindgren's Varld,     
a theme park. Children from all over the world have enjoyed her books which have     
been translated into many languages.                                                 
                                                                                     
Her Springtime in Noisy Village captures the special season of spring as             
children share outdoor adventures. Crazy adventures take place-walking the barn       
roofline, riding the bull, jumping from the shed, and playing hide-and-seek.         
Several critics feel that this book is too wholesome, too good, too loving. What     
is wrong with this? What is wrong with a truly wonderful childhood? I grew up in     
a small town (population 1500). This book reminds me of my childhood. I remember     
playing in the mud, trying to sail sailboats and similar activities. I enjoy the     
color, wholesomeness, happiness, merriment and mischief in Springtime in Noisy       
Village. My boys have and still love this book and the others in the series.         
                                                                                     
Lindgren received many awards for her work, including the Lewis Carroll Shelf         
Award for Pippi Longstocking in 1973; the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1958;     
and the International Book Award from UNESCO in 1993. Her publisher, Viking           
Press, received the Mildred Batchelder Award for her book, Ronia, the Robber's       
Daughter, in 1984. She received other recognition including honorary doctorates       
from universities. Her favorite character, Pippi Longstocking, has been the star     
of movies as well. Columbia Pictures made the movie, New Adventures of Pippi         
Longstocking in 1988.