Edmonton teacher-librarian Arlene Lipkewich received a 2014 Excellence in Teaching Award from Alberta Education, the provincial ministry of education. Check out the video to see what Arlene brings to her school community!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBZ-V0jZgME

Grim, honest stories prevailed to win the 2014 CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals on June 23. Caldecott-winning Jon Klassen’s This Is Not My Hat (Candlewick, 2013; Walker Books in the UK) and Kevin Brooks’s The Bunker Diary (Puffin UK, 2013) took top honors in the UK’s longest running and most prestigious awards for children’s literature. Both creators are first-time winners, having been shortlisted previously, and beat out illustrious past recipients.

Read more at http://www.slj.com/2014/06/awards/klassen-and-brooks-take-uks-greenaway-and-carnegie-medals/

Author Barbro Lindgren accepted the 2014 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award on Monday evening before a crowded audience in the Stockholm Concert Hall. H.R.H. Crown Princess Victoria presented the award, and Minister for Culture Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth hailed Lindgren for her literary achievements:

– Barbro Lindgren is a brave and innovative author. She gives her readers courage and is not afraid to describe the world as it really is. Loneliness, setbacks, and even death are all part of life. Lindgren does not try to protect children; instead, her honesty, humor and openness strengthen children to think and talk about difficult things for themselves.

The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA) is the world’s largest prize for children’s and young adult literature. The award, which amounts to SEK 5 million (approx. 521 000 EUR), is awarded annually to a single recipient or to several. Authors, illustrators, oral storytellers and those active in reading promotion may be rewarded.

– I am very happy to have heard from so many people saying that they are happy for me, because it must be fairly common for people to get cross and feel it’s unfair when someone else gets an award, Barbro Lindgren said in her acceptance speech.

She also spoke of Astrid Lindgren’s importance for her career. Astrid Lindgren had headed the children’s books division at Rabén & Sjögren, where Barbro Lindgren sent her early manuscripts:

– Astrid wrote back to me with a long reply, in which she went into great detail about how you actually write a book. One thing she said was that I shouldn’t have so many main characters. Two or three was plenty.

Barbro Lindgren’s sons, Mathias and Andreas, together the award-winning songwriting duo Bröderna Lindgren, took the stage to perform Superhjälten (The Superhero) with Amanda Bergman and En flugas väg (The fly’s progress) with Ebbot Lundberg. Edda Magnason and band performed material from Magnason’s upcoming album and a song from the film Monica Z. Actor Lamine Dieng was master of ceremonies.

Video content in broadcast quality with highlights, soundbites and B-rolls from the ceremony will be available at www.thenewsmarket.com/alma during the evening.

Barbro Lindgren, born in 1937, is a Swedish author of innovative and multifaceted works for children of all ages. Her body of work includes picture books, poetry, plays, and books for young adults. Since her debut as an author in 1965, she has published over a hundred titles, and her work has been translated into more than thirty languages. The Jury’s Citation reads: Barbro Lindgren is a literary pioneer. Using adventurous language and rich psychological nuance, she has re-invented not only the picture book for the very young but also the absurd prose story, the existential children’s poem, and realistic fiction for young adults. With perfect pitch, she presents to us both playful shenanigans and moments of bright joy, and the inscrutable nature of life and the nearness of death.

Barbro Lindgren’s 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. She has a singular capacity to remember and convey what it was like to be a child, and her seemingly simple style recreates atmospheres and moods that resonate with all her readers, regardless of their age.

Barbro Lindgren has an education in the arts and illustrated several of her own books, including her first book, Mattias sommar (Mattias’ summer, 1965), and the absurd tale of Loranga, Masarin och Dartanjang (1969), about a world where anything can happen. Sagan om den lilla farbrorn (The Story of the Little Old Man, 1979) marked the beginning of a long-lived co-operation with the illustrator Eva Eriksson. Their greatest success came with their series of picture books about little Max and the everyday adventures in the life of a small child. Meanwhile, in Mamman och den vilda bebin (The Wild Baby, 1980) a baby has adventures that are anything but ordinary.

More realistic works include the autobiographical series of books in diary form, Jättehemligt, Världshemligt and Bladen brinner (Big Secret, Top secret, Pages on fire, 1971-73). Here, the author portrays a young girl’s encounter with love and her existen-tial reflections about life. Death seems always close at hand, a theme we see again in the series about Sparvel (1976-79), which depicts the author’s life from age four until she starts school. Reflections on the meaning of life also appear in the fiercely original chapter books Vems lilla mössa flyger (Whose little hat is flying, 1987), Korken flyger (The cork is flying, 1990), and Vad lever man för (What-Are-We-Living-For, 2006), where worn-out stuffed animals are among the unusual cast of characters. Here, Barbro Lindgren finds humor even in a funeral, and refilling the stuffing of a toy elephant can bring it back from the dead.

The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA) will be presented in a ceremony at the Stockholm Concert Hall on June 2, 2014.

More information
Helene Andersson, Communication Officer
Phone: +46 (0)76 540 10 17
E-mail: helene.andersson@alma.se

The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA) is the world’s largest award for children’s and young adult literature. The award, which amounts to SEK 5 million, is given annually to a single laureate or to several. Authors, illustrators, oral storytellers and reading promoters are eligible. The award is designed to promote interest in children’s and young adult literature. The UN convention of rights of the child is the foundation of our work. An expert jury selects the laureate(s) from candidates nominated by institutions and organisations all over the world. The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award was founded by the Swedish government in 2002 and is administrated by the Swedish Arts Council.