Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award
For my second blog post, I wanted to look into international book awards. I discovered that most countries have their own set of awards for children’s literature, like how the United States has the John Newbery Medal. The international awards I want to focus on for this post is the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. This award is presented every year and is the largest international children’s and young adult award of the year. The recipient of the award can be from any country of the world.
Astrid Lindgren was a Swedish children’s author who died in 2002. She promoted the importance of literature for children, and her books have been translated into more than ninety languages. She believed in peace and democracy, and it is important that the recipient of the award promotes democratic values. In my opinion, the coolest part of this award is that it does not have to necessarily go to an author. It can also go to an illustrator, a nonprofit organization, a cartoonist, or an oral storyteller. Although I cannot discuss every winner of this award, I will talk about three winners from the years 2013, 2014, and 2015.
In 2013, a woman named Isol received the award. She is an Argentinian illustrator, cartoonist, graphic artist, writer, singer, and composer. She has written 10 books and illustrated many more from other authors. She is known for “creating picturebooks from the eye level of the child” (Laureates 2013). Two of her most famous works are Tener un Patito es Util (2007) and Nocturno. In 2014, a woman named Barbro Lindgren received the award. She is a Swedish author. She has written picturebooks, poetry, plays, and realistic fiction for young adults. “Her stories are often humorous and always possess a uniquely warm tone of voice that speaks directly to the child” (Laureates 2014). In 2015, the non-profit organization PRAESA (Project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa) received the award. PRAESA is in Cape Town, South Africa. The three goals of the organization are “to provide children with high-quality literature in the various South African languages; to collaborate with and foster new networks among publishers and organizations that promote reading; and to initiate and carry out activities that can help sustain a living culture of reading and storytelling in socially vulnerable communities” (Laureates 2015).
References:
Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. “About the Award.” n.d. Retrieved from http://www.alma.se/en/About-the-award/
Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. “2013 Isol.” n.d. Retrieved from http://www.alma.se/en/Laureates/2013-Isol/
Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. “2014 Barbro Lindgren.” n.d. Retrieved from http://www.alma.se/en/Laureates/2014/
Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. “2015 PRAESA.” n.d. Retrieved from http://www.alma.se/en/Laureates/2015/