The Astrid Lindgren Award

U.S. writer Katherine Paterson has won the Astrid Lindgren Award. (Announcement via Monsters and Critics.) Paterson is best known in the U.S., perhaps, for The Bridge to Terabithia.

The jury wrote that 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 United States today.'"

This prize, "created 2002 by the Swedish government in honour of Lindgren," is a big one--worth, currently, $636, 000! Congratulations to Paterson. What a wonderful coup.

Previous winners include Philip Pullman, Ryôji Arai (Japan) , Lygia Bojunga (Brazil), Christine Nöstlinger (Austria), and Maurice Sendak.