T H E A S T R I D L I N D G R E N M E M O R I A L AWA R D

is the world’s largest prize for children’s and young adult literature. The award, which amounts to SEK 5 million, is awarded annually to one or more recipients. Authors, illustrators, oral storytellers and those active in reading

promotion may be recognised by the award. The award is designed to promote interest in children’s and young adult literature, and in children’s rights, globally. An expert jury selects

the winners from candidates nominated by institutions and organisations worldwide. The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award is administered by the Swedish Arts Council

and was founded by the Swedish government in 2002.

The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA) celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. A decade has passed since the death of Astrid Lindgren, Sweden’s best-known and most translated author. To honour her memory, the Swedish government has established an annual award of SEK 5 million (approx. 542 000 EUR) to promote interest in children’s and young adult literature around the world. For the past 10 years, the world’s largest award for children’s and young adult literature has been given to authors, illustrators and reading promoters whose work is in the spirit of Astrid Lindgren. The jury applies the highest artistic standards in the annual selection process leading to the announcement of the recipient. Nominating bodies with expertise in issues rela-ting to children’s and young adult literature nominate hundreds of candidates for the award each year. This year we are celebrating not only the award but the people and organisations chosen to receive it. Since ALMA was established, 12 recipients have been announced. On two occa-sions, in 2003 and 2005, two recipients shared the award. The following contains a brief presentation of each recipient and the recipients’ own reflections on topics relating to children’s and young adult literature. A more detailed version of these reflections is published at www.alma.se/en. Enjoy your reading!

The award office

C H R I S T I N E N Ö S T L I N G E R + M A U R I C E S E N D A K S O N YA H A R T N E T T

LY G I A B O J U N G A TA M E R I N S T I T U T E

RY Ô J I A R A I + P H I L I P P U L L M A N K I T T Y C R O W T H E R

K AT H E R I N E PAT E R S O N S H A U N TA N

B A N C O D E L L I B R O G U U S K U I J E R

The tension is always palpable when the members of the ALMA jury assemble for their final meeting of the year to decide who should receive the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the world’s largest award for children’s and young adult literature. After making our decision, we have to get in touch with the recipient or recipients. I remember calling the first recipient to give her the good news. Did we have the right number? Would she be home? Did she have any idea what the award was and what it represented? In fact, my conversation with Austrian author Christine Nöstlinger went very well, apart from some initial confusion when her husband, who answered the phone, thought I was calling from a taxi firm. Now, 10 years later, we can look back on an eventful decade. Over the course of these 10 years, the jury has worked tirelessly to choose worthy recipients of the award. We have read, discussed, dissected, argued, asked questions, obtained information, visited people and organisations, and eventually reached an agree-ment on recipients whose work or activities we felt met the highest artistic standards. I am very proud to say that the jury has never been predictable or politically correct. Our criteria have been that the recipients’ work or activities should meet the highest standards of quality, always treat children with respect and embody the humanistic spirit of Astrid Lindgren. Being a member of the ALMA jury is a fantastic privilege. We have been called upon

to consider the work of illustrators, storytellers, authors and reading promotors from all parts of the world. I cannot over emphasise the importance of the nominating bodies. The award office is in contact with over 400 nominating bodies around the world, through which the jury becomes aware of the enormous wealth of literature that exists globally. They keep us informed of what people are writing and what people are reading, acting as our eyes and ears in children’s libraries around the world. I am convinced that books build bridges and that children’s literature has the power to boost mutual understanding and exchanges between cultures and individuals. The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award supports this bridge-building and helps children’s and young adult literature increase its international reach.

Larry Lempert Chairman of the jury

G U U S K U I J E R , author “With an unprejudiced gaze and a sharp intellect, Guus Kuijer portrays both the problems facing contemporary society and life’s big questions. Respect for children is as self-evident in his works as his rejection of intolerance and oppression. Kuijer combines serious subject matter and razor-sharp realism with warmth, subtle humour and visionary flights of fancy. His simple, clear and precise style accommodates both deep philosophical insight and graceful poetic expression.” The citation of the jury

GUUS KUIJER, born 1942, grew up in Amsterdam. He taught primary school for six years until 1973, when he published his first novel and became a full-time writer.

Kuijer has published over 30 books for children and young adults, mostly for readers in their early teens. Several of his works have been adapted for film or stage. Early in his career, Guus Kuijer became active in the public debate. In the early 1980s he published a collection of essays dealing with how children are perceived by society. In recent years, some of his writings have covered issues relating to intolerance and fundamentalism. Guus Kuijer has won a number of literary prizes, including the Deutsche Jugendliteraturpreis (Ger-man Children’s Literature Award) on two occasions. He is a four-time recipient of the Netherlands’ big-gest children’s literature prize, the Gouden Griffel (Golden Pencil), and

has also received the Staatsprijs voor kinder- en jeugdliteratuur (Dutch National Award for Chil-dren’s and Young Adult Literature).

“I’m deeply grateful to receive this award. I hope that it will positively influence the position of children’s literature in the Netherlands and abroad. As for my work I consider “The Book of Everything” the most important.”Guus Kuijer

From The Book of Everything. Translated by John Nieuwenhuizen (Young Picador, 2005).Original title: Het boek van alle dingen (Querido, 2004).

’Dear Eliza,’ Thomas wrote in The Book of Everything,

Maybe you think you are not beautiful because you have a leather leg that creaks when you walk. Or because one of your hands has only a little finger and nothing else. But that is not true. You are the most beautiful girl in the world. I think that later you are going to live in a castle with a Rolls-Royce in the driveway. I do not write this because I want to go out with you, for you are already sixteen and I am only nine (nearly ten), so that is not possible. I write this because it is true.

He stared out of the window and thought, ’What a pity I don’t dare write this Eliza.’ Pity, pity, pity, for it was a lovely letter, particularly that bit about the castle and the Rolls-Royce. ’I won’t dare, never in my life, no way.’ ’Do you know how happiness begins?’ Mrs van Amersfoort said in his head. ’It begins with no longer being afraid.’

S H A U N TA N, illustrator and author “Shaun Tan is a masterly visual storyteller, pointing the way ahead to new possibilities for picture books. His pictorial worlds constitute a separate universe where nothing is self-evident and anything is possible. Memories of childhood and adolescence are fixed reference points, but the pictorial narrative is universal and touches everyone, regardless of age. Behind a wealth of minutely detailed pictures, where civilisation is criticised and history depicted through symbolism, there is a palpable warmth. People are always present, and Shaun Tan portrays both our searching and our alienation. He combines brilliant, magical narrative skill with deep humanism.” The citation of the jury

fiction (my main interests), but a sanctuary for quiet contemplation, writing and sketching.

… A N D C O N TA C T S W I T H R E A D E R S A N D T H E P U B L I CArtistic practice is, by nature, quite solitary and introverted – and there’s nothing wrong with that. From time to time, however, it’s very helpful to reconnect with an audi-ence and realise that every book is a conversation with others, not just a vehicle for self-expression. Every time I meet readers, I’m aware that they are co-creators in the story-telling process, being im-aginative and inventive in their own personal way. That’s an important thing for writers and illustrators to remember.

SHAUN TAN, born in 1974, is an illustrator and author from Australia. He has illustrated some 20 books, including a handful of titles for which he was both author and illustrator. He also collaborates on

animated film, musical and theatri-cal adaptations of his works, as well as producing fine art and murals. S H A U N TA N O N T H E I M P O RTA N C E O F L I B R A R I E S . . . My interest in science fiction, which led to my interest in illustra-tion and eventually picture books, probably began at the age of 12 when a librarian in a local public library directed me to some SF anthologies, particularly the work of Ray Bradbury, which continues to influence my writing and painting. As a child, my family could not af-ford to buy many books, so the pub-lic library was the most frequently visited place outside of school and home. It was not just as a repository for books about art and science

Illustration (cropped) from The Red Tree © Shaun Tan (A Lothian book from Hachette AU, 2001).

K I T T Y C R O W T H E R, illustrator and author “Kitty Crowther is the master of line but also of atmosphere. She maintains the tradition of the picture book while transforming and renewing it. In her world, the door between imagination and reality is wide open. She addresses the reader gently and personally, but with profound effect. In her deeply felt empathy with people in difficulty, she shows ways in which weakness can be turned into strength. Humanism and sympathy permeate and unify her artistry.” The citation of the jury

K I T T Y C R O W T H E R , born in 1970, is an illustrator and author who lives and works in Belgium. She is the author of around 35 titles, most of which were first published in Belgium or France. Her principal works are her own picture books, which are soon translated into other languages.

K I T T Y C R O W T H E R O N T H E I M P O RTA N C E O F R E A D I N G From the outset, I have always been completely captivated by stories of all kinds. They develop you inter-nally, they fine-tune your senses. They are like an act of breathing: in, out; in, out. Some people have an irrepress-ible urge to go out walking, but I had this irrepressible urge to walk inside my own head. I need to explore, down to the tiniest detail, because the spirit needs a full spectrum of possibilities to make choices. How can you leave the room if you cannot even imagine a door? For me, that is what reading is. Writing has had a huge impact on our civilisation, to the point where we read without even being aware of it. But reading really only works if there is an element of mystery or magic about it, whether

that is a matter of form or of nar-rative. And that is why I regard reading aloud as being of paramount importance. Reading powerful books. And the importance of the story-tellers. Recently, I went to Lebanon. In a classroom there, I met a boy of 11 years of age, a real ray of sunshine. He had taken part in a story-telling contest. I could not help imploring him to tell me a story. It was sublime. It was a terrible tale about a great bear that ate a whole family. It is so good to laugh in the face of something horrible. I became aware of the beauty of the written word that day I first had the impression I was hearing my own inner voice reading me a story.

Illustration (cropped) from Annie du lac © Kitty Crowther (Pastel, 2009).

T H E TA M E R I N S T I T U T E F O R C O M M U N I T Y E D U C AT I O N , promoter of reading “With perseverance, audacity and resourcefulness, the Tamer Institute has for two decades stimulated Palestinian children’s and young adults’ love of reading – and their creativity. Under difficult circumstances, the Institute carries out reading promotion of an unusual breadth and versatility. In the spirit of Astrid Lindgren, the Tamer Institute acknowledges the power of words and the strength of books, stories and imagination as important keys to self-esteem, tolerance and the courage to face life.” The citation of the jury

T H E TA M E R I N S T I T U T E is an independent non-profit organisa-tion that carries out reading promo-tion work for children and young

people in the West Bank and Gaza. It was founded in 1989 to give children access to books and alter-native learning as children’s and young people’s schooling, leisure time and lives suffered from the troubles in the area. R E N A D Q U B B A J , D I R E C T O R G E N E R A L , O N C H A L L E N G E S I N H E R W O R K The main and most serious chal-lenge is related to the obstacles enforced by the Israeli military oc-cupation that hinder the movement of our personnel and books from district to district within the country, and from home to other countries. The fact that Tamer’s workers in Gaza, Jerusalem and the West Bank are unable to meet in person and must discuss projects through video

conferences all the time is a great challenge to us. Another challenge in Tamers’ work is related to the fact that children’s literature is a relatively new branch of art in our region,and that Tamer is one of two bodies in Palestine that specialises in this field. This lays heavy responsi-bilities on Tamer, which finds itself involved in all aspects of children’s literature including publishing and improving the quality of local children’s and young adult’s books, sponsoring hundreds of children’s books discussions in the libraries, training and sponsoring young amateur writers and illustrators, and launching campaigns all over the country to promote reading as a tool to empower individuals and society at large.

S O N YA H A R T N E T T, author “Sonya Hartnett is one of the major forces for renewal in modern young adult fiction. With psychological depth and a concealed yet palpable anger, she depicts the circumstances of young people without avoiding the darker sides of life. She does so with linguistic virtuosity and a brilliant narrative technique; her works are a source of strength.” The citation of the jury

S O N YA H A RT N E T T was born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1968. She made her publishing debut at the age of 15 with a novel she had written when she was 13. She is one

of the authors currently charting a new course for young adult fiction in terms of both form and con-tents, while constantly pushing the boundaries of her own authorship. S O N YA H A RT N E T T ’ S D E F I N I T I O N O F Q U A L I T YA quality book for young people should leave them a different and slightly better person than the one they were when they began reading the book. Books have the opportu-nity to shape young people, and I think writers for the young should always take that opportunity to instil good things in their readers. There-fore, a novel for children should teach, although never in forced way; it should teach by quietly taking on themes and subjects and settings

that the young reader might not have experienced, thereby broadening their concept and understanding of the world. The book doesn’t need to be sugar-sweet or hide from hard truths. Indeed, quality literature, even for the young, should never be afraid to present life in all its colours, even the ugliest. But one day, these youthful readers will be the adults of the world and hope-fully they will make good adults. In a small way, a book can help them if it passes on the message that the world is a fine place that should be cared for, that history is something we can learn from, that animals have a right to space and freedom, and that people have great potential for kindness and decency.

From The Ghost’s Child by Sonya Hartnett (Walker Books Ltd., 2008).

The boy sitting in Matilda’s lounge room on the flowery settee squirmed into a mortified ball. “Don’t say this!” he cried, wriggling his feet and clapping his hands to his ears. “I don’t want to hear about things like this!” Matilda laughed too, at her elderly self and her younger self, and at the blushing boy. “But you should hear about it. This is important. Love is a very important thing in this world.” “Love is horrible! It’s stupid!” Peake was on his four feet, looking angry, his envelope-ears pricked on his scrappy head; Matilda, for the first time in such a long time remembering everything so clearly, thought she might die smiling. Those days on the beach had been, perhaps, the sweetest of her life. She chuckled across the coffee table at the boy, who had pressed his palms over his eyes. “You’re right,” she said. “Love can be horrible for those who aren’t in it. Sometimes it’s even horrible for those who are. Love isn’t always a good thing, or even a happy thing. Sometimes it’s the very worst thing that can happen. But love is like moonlight or thunder, or rain on a tin roof in the middle of the night: it is one of the things in life that is truly worth knowing.” The boy moaned and groaned in pain, digging his fingers into his eyes. Eventually he lowered his hands and slowly unknotted his limbs. “All right,” he said flatly, averting his sights. “You can tell me if you have to. But hurry up.”

B A N C O D E L L I B R O was set up in 1960 in Caracas, Venezuela, as a centre for the exchange of textbooks; hence the name, which means Book Bank. Since then, with great creativity and flexibility,

B A N C O D E L L I B R O, promoter of reading “In a true pioneering spirit, with ingenuity and a sheer determination, the Banco del Libro has constantly sought new ways of disseminating books and promoting reading among children in Venezuela. Enthusiasm, professionalism, closeness to the children and a refreshing lack of bureaucracy are the hallmarks of the Banco del Libro’s work, whether in shanty towns, mountain villages, universities or out in cyberspace.” The citation of the jury

Banco del Libro has passed on books and stimulated an appetite for reading and writing among countless numbers of children and young people. M A R Í A B E AT R I Z M E D I N A , M A N A G I N G D I R E C T O R , O N T H E P O W E R O F A RT Aesthetic experience generates a space of encounter between the symbolic and the real, providing a special access to the world. This is the power of art. Books for children and young adults provide a symbolic register, from two narrative structures; two languages that invite imagination and test our ordinary view and perception of things. Consequently, literature is an important agent of change. The affectionate encounter with the written word can generate

social formation, self-acceptance and the recognition of others. In this manner, art is an exceptional tool with which to provide the ideal conditions to learn to read and enjoy reading. Children’s books are essen-tial. Contemporary works not only re-educate our aesthetic taste; they also open the possibility to develop and access language. Our institu-tion carries out projects that pro-mote citizenship through a variety of reading materials that, from a symbolic perspective, generate a therapeutic space. This line of work aligns with Serge Bomaire’s statement that metaphors and fiction are capable of containing and reliev-ing complex issues, heated matters. In this way, we have verified the potential of literature.

K AT H E R I N E PAT E R S O N, author ”Katherine Paterson is a brilliant psychologist who gets right under the skin of the vulnerable young people she creates, whether in historical or exotic settings, or in the grim reality of the USA today. With a deft aesthetic touch she avoids simple solutions, building instead on the inner strength and courage of her main characters.” The citation of the jury

K AT H E R I N E PAT E R S O N , born in 1932, grew up in China and trained as a missionary in Japan be-fore beginning her writing career in America with a number of religious textbooks. Her work has included

picture books and books for the very young, often based around fairytales and myths; yet it is as a writer of novels for young readers that she is best known. W H AT W E R E Y O U R R E A C T I O N S A F T E R R E C E I V I N G T H E AWA R D I N 2 0 0 6 ? After the initial shock upon hearing the news, I began to think of what it would mean to be the recipient of such a large prize and I realised that it was a wonderful opportunity. US law demands that prizes be taxed, and I knew that this prize would be taxed at 30–40 percent of its value. I couldn’t face the idea of money from the Astrid Lindgren Memo-rial Award going to fund the wars my country was engaged in. So I determined to set up a charitable foundation to receive the funds.

My large family, all of whom came to Stockholm to help celebrate the award, enthusiastically approved this plan. Family and friends have also contributed to the Paterson Family Foundation so that, to date, the foundation has been able to give $492,239 to 13 different causes in countries around the world support-ing education, books and literacy. Despite the current economic situ-ation, at the close of our fiscal year in September we still had a balance of $668,296, which will enable us to keep going for several more years. It has been a wonderful experience for our family. One of my sons took his son to Haiti to actually see some of the work the foundation supports there. We’re so happy that the award has been able to help thousands of children and young people and their teachers. I am very, very grateful.

Dear Ms. Paterson, I apologize for not typing this letter, but I send you greetings from Farah City, Afghanistan where I am deployed with my Army National Guard unit in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. I am, consequently, without access to printers. Yesterday, we were blessed with the very rare occasion of receiving mail at our remote desert outpost. With my letters was a copy of Bridge to Terabithia. I was unfamiliar with this book but the title sounded interesting and it had clearly won the Newbery, so I gave it a try. And on one of those very rare occasions where I have time between missions and guard duty, I read the entire novel. I was mesmerized. You wrote an absolutely beautiful novel and I, like Jessie Aarons, fell in love with Leslie Burke. Maybe it was because you made it so easy to see things from Jessie’s perspective. Maybe it was because Leslie reminded me of a girl I once knew. Maybe it was because she was a spark of beauty in a land and a war where beauty is of so little importance. That night, after finishing Bridge to Terabithia, my squad left our compound for a mis-sion. Yet, even while I drove through a strange foreign city with body armor and a fully loaded M-16 assault rifle, all I could think about was the beauty and richness of your novel. Before the army yanked me out of the real world for this war, I was a high school Eng-lish teacher. Before that, I studied English at the University of Iowa. I have, therefore, read many novels. But of all those novels, I have awarded only five books with my own personal five-star rating system. Bridge to Terabithia is unquestionably a five-star novel. It amazed me with its beauty. Thank you, Ms. Paterson, for bringing such joy to this lonely teacher-made-soldier in this long tour in this bleak desert country. I have sent instructions home to my wife, asking her to secure a hardcover, and my future students will be highly encouraged to read your brilliant novel. Once again, thank you for the joy you brought me. Thank you for Leslie Burke. Sincerely, Corporal Trent D. Reedy, United States Army

K AT H E R I N E PAT E R S O N O N T H E P O W E R O F A RT Any writer will understand how miraculous it is when something you have written deeply affects another person. And we are all acutely aware of how much depends on the heart and mind of the reader. That being said, this story begins with a letter I received in the fall of 2004 that had been mailed the previous August. It had no stamp and the return address was an Army Post Office number. Now, I am a peace-loving children’s writer, so most of my mail comes from children, not soldiers. But as I read this letter, I was overwhelmed with awe and gratitude, as any writer would be.

After a couple of years of correspondence, I was able to meet Trent Reedy. He told me that Bridge to Terabithia saved his life. When I asked him what he meant by that, he said how important it was to him to be able to cling to something beautiful when the world about him was so ugly and terrifying. Since that time, many of his fellow soldiers have come back from the war so scarred that they haven’t been able to adjust to civilian life. But he had come to realise how vital art was. He believed art literally saved his life. Since that time, Trent has become a writer himself.

RY Ô J I A R A I, illustrator “Ryôji Arai is an illustrator with a style all of his own: bold, mischievous and unpredictable. His picture books glow with warmth, playful good humour and an audacious spontaneity that appeals to children and adults alike. In adventure after adventure, colour flows through his hands in an almost musical way. As a medium for conveying stories to children, his art is at once genuine and truly poetic, encouraging children to paint and to tell their own stories.” The citation of the jury

RY Ô J I A R A I is an illustrator, born in Japan in 1956. His produc-tion of picture books is both large and varied – from small books for toddlers, to picture books of non-sense, fairytales and poetry, both with his own texts and those of other writers. He has also worked with advertising, magazine illustration and theatre set design, maintaining a child’s point of view in every-thing he does. RY Ô J I A R A I O N H I S P R E S E N T W O R K One thing is picture books, of course, and I am organising work-shops, hopefully with the partici-

pation of children. These days, I am thinking about doing anima-tions or holding exhibitions that both children and adults can enjoy participating in. But I cannot teach a good way of climbing trees, like Astrid! I still feel great joy to have been honoured in this way as a much-loved writer whose work has appeal for many readers all over the world! This has been a big confi-dence boost for a writer like me, few of whose works have been trans-lated into foreign languages. I am delighted that this award will be a talking point in exchanges with artists in foreign countries.

Illustration (cropped) from Basu ni notte © Ryôji Arai (Kaisei-sha, 1992). När kommer bussen? Swedish trans. Lars Vargö (Alfabeta Bokförlag, 2006).

P H I L I P P U L L M A N, author “Philip Pullman is a master storyteller in a number of genres – from his-torical novels and fantasy to social realism and highly amusing parodies. With inventiveness, linguistic brilliance and psychological insight he creates and explores his own worlds without losing focus on here and now. Through his strong characters he stands firmly on the side of young people, ruthlessly questioning authority and proclaiming humanism and the power of love whilst maintaining an optimistic belief in the child even in the darkest of situations.” The citation of the jury

P H I L I P P U L L M A N is a British author born in 1946. He began his career as a teacher before becoming a full-time writer. His works display an amazing diversity and his books are equally appreciated by both young and adult readers. He is best known for the fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials.

P H I L I P P U L L M A N O N H I S L I B R A RY E X P E R I E N C EThe first library I remember was just a cupboard in a school classroom; I think I must have been seven years old. The books in there were all dusty and old, but I do remember finding one or two adventure stories that thrilled me. When I was 11 we moved to a village in Wales where an elderly lady befriended me and allowed me to borrow books from her (to me enormous) collection. She had a rather grand house at the top of a sloping lawn and the book room looked down across the lawn towards the sea. I think she had grown-up children she didn’t see very often. There was a real mixture of books on her shelves, including some old, very cheaply printed stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs about Tarzan. I thought they were thrilling. When I was about 16, the pupils in my class at school were allowed to choose a book each for the school library from the library van that

came round once a term. This was a very rural area, and the visit of the library van was a big event for those of us who loved books. I was just getting interested in poetry, espe-cially modern poetry, and I chose a book called The New American Poetry, edited by Donald Allen. I didn’t know what to expect, but I think it changed my life. Included in the anthology, in full, was Allen Ginsberg’s great poem ‘Howl’: “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked …” Could anything be more thrilling to a 16-year-old than lan-guage like that? I read on, my eyes widening: were people allowed to write like this? Clearly they were. And the library service of the Coun-ty of Merioneth, and the school li-brary of Ysgol Ardudwy, allowed me to read it. I say that book changed my life because it confirmed my own desire to write and showed me a vast new universe of possible things to say. I have a copy of that anthology on my own bookshelves now.

PHILIP PULLMAN ON CHILDREN’S RIGHT TO CULTURE Children need art and stories and poems and music as much as they need love and food and fresh air and play. If you don’t give a child food, the damage quickly becomes visible. If you don’t let a child have fresh air and play, the damage is also visible, but not so quickly. I you don’t give a child love, the damage might not be seen for some years, but it’s permanent. But if you don’t give a child art and stories and poems and music, the damage is not so easy to see. It’s there, though. Their bodies are healthy enough; they can run and jump and swim and eat hungrily and make lots of noise, as children have always done, but something is missing. It’s true that some people grow up never encountering art of any kind and are perfectly happy and live good and valuable lives, and in whose homes there are no books, and they don’t care much for pictures, and they can’t see the point of music. Well, that’s fine. I know people like that. They are good neighbours and useful citizens. But other people, at some stage in their childhood or their youth, or maybe even their old age, come across something of a kind they’ve never dreamed of before. It is as alien to them as the dark side of the moon. But one day they hear a voice on the radio reading a poem, or they pass by a house with an open window where someone is playing the piano, or they see a poster of a particular painting on someone’s wall, and it strikes them a blow so hard and yet so gentle that they feel dizzy. Nothing prepared them for this. They suddenly realize that they’re filled with a hunger, though they had no idea of that just a minute ago; a hunger for something so sweet and so delicious that it almost breaks their heart. They almost cry, they feel sad and happy and alone and welcomed by this utterly new and strange experience, and they’re desperate to listen closer to the radio, they linger outside the window, they can’t take their eyes off the poster. They wanted this, they needed this as a starving person needs food, and they never knew. They had no idea. That is what it’s like for a child who does need music or pictures or poetry to come across it by chance. If it weren’t for that chance they might never have met it, and might have passed their whole lives in a state of cultural starvation without knowing it. The effects of cultural starvation are not dramatic and swift. They’re not so easily visible. And, as I say, some people, good people, kind friends and helpful citizens, just never experience it; they’re perfectly fulfilled without it. If all the books and all the music and all the paintings in the world were to disap-pear overnight, they wouldn’t feel any the worse; they wouldn’t even notice. But that hunger exists in many children, and often it is never satis-fied because it has never been awakened. Many children in every part of the world are starved for something that feeds and nourishes their soul in a way that nothing else ever could or ever would. We say, correctly, that every child has a right to food and shelter, to education, to medical treatment, and so on. We must understand that every child has a right to the experience of culture. We must fully understand that without stories and poems and pictures and music, children will starve.

LY G I A B O J U N G A, author “Lygia Bojunga dissolves the boundaries between fantasy and reality with all the exhilarating ease of a child at play. In her dramatic and word of mouth-style narratives the reader is always enabled to enter directly into the dreams and fantasies that her principal characters draw on for survival. In a deeply original way she fuses playfulness, poetic beauty and absurd humour with social critique, a love of freedom and a strong empathy with the vulnerable child.” The citation of the jury

LY G I A B O J U N G A was born in Pelotas, Brazil, in 1932. She began her career as an actress and worked with radio and television before

making her debut as a children’s writer in 1972 (Os Colegas). Her works have been translated into a number of languages and she has won a number of awards.

LY G I A B O J U N G A : A B O O K T H AT C H A N G E D M Y L I F E When I was eight years old, I read a book by the Brazilian writer Monteiro Lobato that changed my life. The book made me fall in love with literature (until then, I thought books were boring companions). I read everything Lobato wrote for children and I could no longer do without books. As an adolescent, I began to nourish a dream, which gradually became a genuine urge – to enlarge my relationship with books. First, I learnt other languages, which gave me access to a greater variety of books. Then I began writing books myself – and was very pleased, I must admit, to find

they helped to pay my bills. Seek-ing to get even closer to books, I became my own publisher and, in so doing, was able to complete the process from having an idea for a book through to the finished project arriving into the hands of the reader. When I saw that my tiny publishing house was alive and well, I decided to complete my love affair with books by creating a foundation related to books. But how could such a venture be funded? As if in answer to what appeared to be an insurmountable problem came an early morning telephone call from Sweden, advising me I had won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for 2004. The foundation was immediately set up and, over the past six years, it has been able to develop and support community projects that are ben-eficial to adults, adolescents and children, including a major project that encourages reading.

One day my friend told me that I was a boy with the soul of an artist, and he gave me an album with some pictures he had done in watercolors, oil paints, and pastels. He said that he had arranged the pictures in an album to help me to understand better this question of color. On the first pages there is nothing but color. In fact, to begin with there isn’t even color, only black and white. Then the colors begin: yellow, blue, red, and then lots of other colors as those three colors are mixed, in designs I sometimes like and sometimes don’t like at all. My friend told me that the more you look at a color, the more you get out of it. I sat there staring at him without understanding. I couldn’t grasp what he meant about getting so much out of a color. But today there was a moment when I wasn’t in the mood for seeing anyone. So I opened the album he had given me. I just wanted to sit there studying the colors one by one, that’s all. I looked and looked, as I had been told. And suddenly I knew exactly what he had been trying to tell me. I felt like going straight up to his apartment and saying to him: I’ve understood what you told me that day! I know just what you mean about this black. Believe me, I’ve got it and I can now see how this yellow took over. But I couldn’t speak to my friend the painter; he’s dead. He died three days ago.

From My Friend the Painter, by Lygia Bojunga. Translated by Giovanni Pontiero (Harcourt Brace JovanovichPublishers, 1991). Original title: O Meu Amigo Pintor (José Olympio, 1987).

M A U R I C E S E N D A K, author and illustrator “Maurice Sendak is the modern picture book’s portal figure. He is unparal-leled in developing the picture book’s unique possibilities of narrating – to the joy of constant new picture book illustrators. Furthermore, he is one of the most courageous researchers of the most secret recesses of childhood – to the delight of constant new readers.” The citation of the jury

M A U R I C E S E N D A K was born 1928 in Brooklyn, New York. His major breakthrough was Where the Wild Things Are (1963), in which he revolutionised the entire picture book narrative. It is primarily in the dozen books that Maurice Sendak has both written and illustrated that he penetrates the most secret recesses of childhood. He has compared childhood to ‘a range of humiliation’, which he happens to remember better than most other people. As an illustrator of other people’s texts, Sendak has demon-strated how pictures can emphasize new meanings of a text.

“If I have an unusual talent, it’s not that I draw particularly better, or write particularly better, than other people. I’ve never fooled myself about that. Rather, it’s that I remember things that other people don’t recall: the sounds and feelings and images – the emotional quality of particular moments in childhood.”Maurice Sendak

Illustration (cropped) from Where the Wild Things Are © Maurice Sendak (Harper and Row, 1963).

C H R I S T I N E N Ö S T L I N G E R, author “Christine Nöstlinger is a reliably bad child-rearing influence of the same calibre as Astrid Lindgren. Her diversified and highly committed authorship is characterized by disrespectful humour, clear-sighted solemnity and inconspicu-ous warmth. She is a staunch supporter of children and those living on the margin of society.” The citation of the jury

“I wanted to illustrate a children’s book. But in order for any-one to let me, I had to write one myself.” Christine Nöstlinger

C H R I S T I N E N Ö S T L I N G E R was born in 1936 and grew up in Vienna, Austria. She originally had plans to pursue graphic arts and, in addition to her extensive author-ship, she has illustrated some of her own books. She has also worked as a journalist. Nöstlinger’s books are written for children of all ages. They range from imaginative stories to realistic descriptions of everyday life and also include stories of a retrospec-tive character; the child is always the centre of attention. She has unfailingly spoken on behalf of the youngest ones in books that reflect many children’s current reality of little money, broken families

and school bullies. Childhood is no idyll in her world, nor are children innocent angels. Although Nöstlinger’s gaze is free of illusions and sentimentality, it is humorous. Her independent and thinking characters, who refuse to be treated as objects, are also wise, energetic and loyal.

From Fly Away Home, by Christine Nöstlinger. Translated by Anthea Bell (Andersen Press, 2009).Original title: Maikäfer, flieg! (Beltz Verlag, 1973).

This time, however, I could see the bombs. So many of them were dropped from the planes one by one, and they were dropped so fast, that they looked like strings of shining, silvery beads hanging from each aircraft. Then the strings of beads broke and the bombs came whizzing down. They were very loud, louder than anything I had ever heard before, so loud that even Grandmother could hear them. Grandmother seized me and tried to drag me away from the window. ‘Down to the cellar, quick!’ she shouted. ‘Run!’ I couldn’t run. I couldn’t even move. I clung to the window sill. Grandmother pulled me away from the window and dragged me through the kitchen, along the passage, down to the cellar door. The bombs were still falling, and the noise was even louder than before. It drummed against my head, rushed in my ears, made my nose prickle and my throat tighten. Grandmother pushed me down the cellar steps, stumbling down after me and falling on top of me. We landed at the bottom of the worn steps together, and the cellar door slammed shut behind us. We sat on the bottom step. The cellar light had gone out, and it was dark. I leaned against Grandmother. Grandmother was trembling and cry-ing. There were rushing, crashing noises overhead. The cellar door swung open and shut, open and shut. Suddenly everything was quiet. Grandmother stopped sobbing and trembling. My head was resting on her plump, soft bosom, and she was stroking me. ‘They’re going away,’ she murmured. ‘Going away again!’

N O M I N AT I N G B O D I E S F O R T H E A S T R I D L I N D G R E N M E M O R I A L AWA R D

Every year, nominating bodies from around the world are invited to suggest candidates for the award. These institutions and organisations are selected based on their extensive and in-depth knowledge of children’s and young adult literature. The award office asked two nominating bodies to comment on their engagement in this process.

The recipients of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2010 and 2011. A public talk between Kitty Crowther and Shaun Tan at the Parliament Library in Stockholm on May 30, 2011.

E VA D E V O S , S T I C H T I N G L E Z E N , B E L G I U M , one of the organisations nominating the 2 0 1 1 R E C I P I E N T S H A U N TA N :

In order to decide on the ALMA nominees, the board members of the Flemish branch of IBBY Belgium and the Vlaamse Illustratoren Club (Flemish Illustrator Association) were invited by the Flemish IBBY secretariat to suggest names of authors, illustrators or or-ganisations that would be worthy of the ALMA. Of course, a lot of names were put forward, but once somebody mentioned Shaun Tan’s name, it felt like a natural and obvious choice for everybody. Although the first Shaun Tan book published in Dutch dates from as late as 2008 (The Arrival), we knew and admired his work long before that. His narrative strength in both words and images is more than impressive. His highly original artistic skills keep on amazing us, and his sincere message of hope and belonging touches our hearts. At Stichting Lezen, we feel especially justified by the choice of the ALMA jury, because Shaun Tan has candidly chosen to make literary works of artistic value, without confining the results to a certain age group of readership. This is in line with our work of reading promotion. We share this same philosophy: we let artistic quality prevail and we try not to belittle children.

M I R I A M E L Z E , I L L U S T R AT O R E N O R G A N I S AT I O N , G E R M A N Y, one of the organisations nominating the 2 0 1 0 R E C I P I E N T K I T T Y C R O W T H E R :

As we compiled the initial list of candidates that we came across in our travels, Kitty Crowther was a particular find among French-language publications. The two works that sparked our interest and tempted us to follow the trail further were La Grande Ourse and Le Grand Désordre. An exhibition of Kitty Crowther’s pictures in France also made a lasting impression on us. Of course, our group discussed questions such as the age at which a person may first be honoured for a lifetime’s work, and what kind of international reputation that person has. We were won over by Kitty Crowther’s impressive bibliography, despite her relatively young age, and equally by her high quality, strength in storytelling and her surprisingly wide-ranging powers of expression. At the time of our decision, Kitty Crowther was unknown in German publishing. Her few publications in Germany had barely been noticed, even by specialists in the field, because the early ones were very short and long ago ceased to be available. Positive support for our decision came from an exposition at the International Youth Library, where Kitty Crowther and other Belgian illustrators were exhibiting. In the nomination process, Crowther’s publishers worked with us very cooperatively and made a wide range of material available to us. We feel as an association, and also as individual members of the nominating body, that our nomination and the ALMA success of Crowther that followed clearly show that we have a global influence that should not be underestimated. Without our nomination, Crowther’s work would probably not have been published in Germany, and some other countries, or become accessible to a wider public. Our nomination and Kitty Crowther’s eventual success have given us the chance to exert an influence on the publishing sector and the decision to publish her work.

A S T R I D L I N D G R E N

Astrid Lindgren (1907-2002) became not only one of the most prominent authors in Sweden, she also contributed regularly to the public debate, and the opinions she expressed in the media always had a major impact. Her humanism and sense of justice were shaped by her early 20th-century upbringing at Näs, a large farm in the town of Vimmerby. As the daughter of a tenant farmer on church land, she gained an early understanding of the unjust divide between upper and lower classes, between rich and poor. Her childhood also gave her a strong appreciation of good animal husbandry and nature conservation. Astrid Lindgren was hugely influential in the development of children’s literature in the post war years, both in Sweden and internationally. In an unusually direct and courageous way, she spoke out through her stories in favour of children’s right to play, dream and develop. Her position – contrary to the accepted wisdom of the time – was that children’s literature should be of the same quality as adult literature, and should be treated with the same respect and on the same financial terms. In public debate, too, she favoured plain speaking. Her acceptance speech upon receiving the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade in 1978, in which she condemned violence, did much to turn public opinion against corporal punishment and to promote children’s rights in Sweden and worldwide. Throughout her life, Astrid Lindgren steadfastly defended children’s right to live and grow up as free, independent individuals. This view permeates her entire literary output and life’s work, and continues to inspire many, many people around the world.

Kjell Åke Hansson, Managing Director, Astrid Lindgren’s Näs

The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award would like to thank: Arctic Paper for their generous contribution with Amber Graphic 150/240g.

Toshiba LED for the Anniversary exhibition lighting.

© 2012 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, Swedish Arts CouncilText where not indicated: Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award

Translations: Exacta översättningar ABGraphic design: Studio Mats Hedman

Photos: 2012, Guus Kuijer: Jaco Klamer. 2011, Shaun Tan: Stefan Tell. 2010, Kitty Crowther: Stefan Tell. 2009, Tamer Institute: Stefan Tell. 2009, Tamer Institute. 2008, Sonya Hartnett: Redfive Studios. 2007, Banco del Libro: Lars-Erik Örthlund. 2007, Banco del Libro: Sedro Rey, AFP, Scanpix. 2006, Katherine

Paterson: Helene Komlos Grill. 2005, Philip Pullman: Maja Suslin, Scanpix. 2005, Ryôji Arai: Stefan Tell. 2004, Lygia Bojunga: Douglas Engle. 2003, Maurice Sendak: Mary Altaffer, Scanpix.

2003, Christine Nöstlinger: Jessica Gow, Scanpix. Kitty Crowther and Shaun Tan: Stefan Tell. Astrid Lindgren: Roine Karlsson.

Printed by: Davidssons Tryckeri AB, 2012.