Jacqueline Woodson Wins $608,000 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, World's Largest Children's Literature Prize

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)
According to latimes.com, acclaimed author Jacqueline Woodson, who won a National Book Award for “Brown Girl Dreaming,” just won the 2018 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award on Tuesday. The award comes with a prize of $608,000, which is funded by the government of Sweden. Publishers Weekly reports that Woodson is the 18th person or organization to win the prize, which is considered one of the most prestigious children’s literary awards in the world.
The Lindgren Award, named after the Swedish creator of “Pippi Longstocking,” caps a list of many honors Woodson has won over her career. In addition to her National Book Award, the author has won the Coretta Scott King Award twice and a Newbery Award four times.
In January, the Library of Congress named Woodson the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. Although Woodson has written two adult novels, “Autobiography of a Family Photo” and “Another Brooklyn,” most of her published work has been for middle-grade readers and young adults.