Happy 100th birthday, Astrid Lindgren!

Today (November 14) would have been the 100th birthday of the famous Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren. She's best known for her Pippi Longstocking series, which have just gotten a new illustrator (see Cheryl Rainfield's blog and A Year of Reading), but other books of hers are well worth reading. The Brothers Lionheart, for instance, is a fantastical quest story that was a favorite of several of my college friends.

After her death, a very strange memorial was constructed near her home in Vimmerby. It had originally been intended for the city center, but the townsfolk objected--with reason, because it is rather disturbing. The main part of it consists of a decapitated child's head at the corner of a water feature of twisted metal:



Here's a brief list of some of her better known books:

The Pippi Longstocking series (Pippi Långstrump)
Karlsson-on-the-Roof series (Karlsson på taket)
Emil of Maple Hills (Emil i Lönneberga)
The Bill Bergson series (Mästerdetektiven Blomkvist)
Madicken
Ronia the Robber's Daughter (Ronja rövardotter)
Seacrow Island (Tjorven på Saltkråkan)
The Six Bullerby Children / The Children of Noisy Village (Barnen i Bullerbyn)
Mio, my Mio (also known as Mio, my Son) (Mio, min Mio)
The Brothers Lionheart (Bröderna Lejonhjärta)