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Today, November 14, 2007, on the 100th anniversary of the birth of Astrid Lindgren, Plus Licens is proud to take part in the international celebrations of Sweden's most renowned and influential author of children's literature. A national cultural heritage, the works of Astrid Lindgren have also proven to have universal appeal - loved by children all over the world and translated into nearly eighty languages, from Afrikaans to Vietnamese, and also developed into several feature films and television series. Astrid Lindgren's ability to remember and recreate the joys, fears, needs and emotions of her own childhood in her storytelling, combined with new ideas in child psychology and child education, made it possible for her to write stories from the viewpoint of the child - thus adding to the "timelessness" of her works.
PIPPI POWER
Already Pippi Longstocking - in Plus Licens territories also known by names like Pipi Dlouhá Puncocha, Fizia Ponczoszanka, Peppi Dlinniychulok and Lína Langsokkur - took the readers by storm in 1945, reflecting children's dreams of power, independence and playfulness, and taking an anti-authoritarian stance against rigid rules and requirements of society as well as all kinds of unwarranted status and prestige. Pippi was a forerunner for female fictional characters in children's literature and still holds the power to transgress boundaries for new generations. Astrid Lindgren herself has described her character as "a person with great power, but also of good will. /.../ Children are eternal underdogs, and their dreams are dreams of power. If I've had any purpose whatsoever with my Pippi character, besides entertaining my young readers, it would be this - to show them that you can have power without abusing it, for of all tricks in life this seems to be the most difficult."
On the visual side of Pippi, Plus Licens is proud of having organized the first complete Pippi Longstocking styleguide based on the original book illustrations by Ingrid Vang Nyman. For numerous readers, Vang Nyman's images have become an indispensable part of the Pippi Longstocking universe - her humorous naivistic style, carefully stripped of all unnecessary elements and loyally depicting the world from a child's viewpoint, combines 20th century modernism with childhood nostalgia and timeless fun.
PIPPI AND FRIENDS IN POLAND
In Poland, Astrid Lindgren was recently at the core of the Czytam Wiem Tworze cultural project, comprising children's literature, film, theatre, art, workshops, library readings, exhibitions and contests throughout Poland - about 250 events of which 150 took place in Warsaw. Under the slogan "I read, I know, I create", the project aimed to increase the awareness of Swedish children's culture in Poland, and also to put focus on the situation of children and children's rights as reflected in the saying "Children are also humans - only shorter". To use Astrid Lindgren's works was a natural choice as she has an iconic status also in Poland, with the Bullerby books being part of the curriculum in Polish schools.
BUILDING THE KARLSSON HOUSE
Another well-known example of Astrid Lindgren's "anarchistic" side, and one of her most loved characters, is of course Karlsson on the Roof, the (anti)hero of three books from 1955-68. "The world's best Karlsson" is by far the major Astrid Lindgren character in the former Soviet Union, and also one of the most popular children's characters in Russia in general - according to former Russian ambassador in Stockholm Boris Pankin, the two books that are most likely to be found in a Russian home are the Bible and Karlsson on the Roof. The book was also made into a stage play at the Teatr Satyry in Moscow in 1968, still being performed there. The first edition of th e book in 1957 was printed in 115.000 copies, and 60 different Russian editions have since then followed. Part of the great success was due to the illustrations by Anatoliy Savchenko.
A problem however arose as a Russian animation company later produced two lovely animated Karlsson episodes based on Savchenko's character design without judicial clearance (which was possible before the Soviet Union joined the Universal Copyright Convention in 1973). "What ensued has been a plethora of badly made infringement products", says Peder Tamm, president of Plus Licens AB. "Plus Licens prides itself of now having brought order to the 'house of Karlsson' in Russia, and the rights have now been firmly reconfirmed as belonging to the Astrid Lindgren estate".
THE COMPLETE ASTRID LINDGREN PUBLISHED IN RUSSIA
Astrid Lindgren flourished in a number of genres: from traditional "girl stories", detective stories and fairy tales, to songs, picture books and plays. She also wrote a storyline directly for television: Saltkrakan/Seacrow Island - set in the Stockholm archipelago, the story remains one of the most popular Lindgren tales in Sweden. Classic fantasy novels like Mio, My Son (1954) and The Brothers Lionheart (1973) represent archetypal struggles between good and evil while sensitively dealing with childhood problems like loneliness, lovelessness, fears and aggression. The Bullerby, Madicken and Emil books (each series comprising several titles) bring back settings and sentiments of Astrid Lindgren's own childhood in southern Sweden, with fun mischief and mayhem taking place in rather idyllic environments. And her final full-scale children's novel Ronia, the Robber's Daughter (1981) once again puts a headstrong and enterprising girl character in focus, a memorable heroine in the footsteps of Pippi.
Beginning in 2007, AST Publishing House, one of Russia's biggest publishers, are launching all Astrid Lindgren stories in Russia - a classic treasure of children's stories, some of which have never previously been published in the Russian language! And three major properties now for the first time feature the original Swedish illustrations by Ingrid Vang Nyman (Pippi Longstocking), Ilon Wikland (Karlsson on the Roof) and Bjorn Berg (Emil). Astrid Lindgren's previously published books have sold over ten million copies in Russia. The first title, Karlsson on the Roof (1957), was followed by Rasmus in 1963 and Pippi Longstocking and Mio, my Son in 1965.
THE ASTRID LINDGREN HERITAGE
Astrid Lindgren has been awarded with a number of the most prestigious literary prizes for her fiction - including the Hans Christian Andersen medal (the "Nobel prize for children's literature") in 1958, the Danish Academy's Karen Blixen Medal, Russia's Leo Tolstoy Medal, Chile's Gabriela Mistral Prize and Sweden's Selma Lagerlof Award. In 1978, she was awarded with The Peace Prize of the German Book Trade and in 1989 the Albert Schweitzer Medal (awarded by the Animal Welfare Institute of the United States) for her humanitarian accomplishments. Furthermore, the publisher Raben & Sjogren has established the Astrid Lindgren Prize in 1967, and the Swedish government the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2002 - the world's largest children's and youth literature award.
However, the genuine public heritage of Astrid Lindgren's work is of course the inherent long-lasting quality of her stories themselves, and also the artistic achievements of the many talented illustrators working with her characters throughout the world. It is with joy and gratitude that Plus Licens honors her memory and continues to take part in the protection and the furthering of the presence of her works.
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