Astrid Lindgren had always loved words and stories, and while she may not have known it at first, she also possessed the ability to tell a good story. As a child, Lindgren devoured every book she could get her hands on, from the adventures of Robinson Crusoe to the spirited tales of Anne of Green Gables. She penned several creative essays that impressed her teacher, and one was even published in the local newspaper. That story, unfortunately, and the attention that followed, led to teasing from her classmates, and she vowed never to write again. How sad that even in those days, children could be so cruel.
Astrid Anna Emilia Ericsson, later known as Lindgren, was born on November 14, 1907, in a red wooden house in the small town of Vimmerby, Småland, Sweden. She was the second of four children of Hanna Jonsson and Samuel August Ericsson. The family lived on a farm called Näs, which had stood for 500 years and had been rented by the Ericssons for three generations. Her childhood was happy and carefree—after finishing her chores, she roamed the fields and nearby woods freely. With her siblings, she spent time climbing trees, swimming in the river, and playing in the barns. This sense of childhood freedom is reflected in her stories, especially in the beloved Pippi Longstocking books.
Lindgren fell in love with the magic of words at just five years old, when a farmhand’s daughter read her a story. Her first book, Snow White, came from a teacher, and she was thrilled each time she got a new one. In her biography Astrid Lindgren, author Eva-Maria Metcalf shared a quote from Lindgren about her passion for books: “I can still remember how these books smelled when they arrived fresh from the printer. Yes, I started by smelling them, and there was no lovelier scent in all the world. It was full of foretaste and anticipation.”
Lindgren’s life wasn’t easy, even after she escaped the cruelty of her schoolmates. In 1924, she started working for the local paper, the Wimmerby Tidningen. She stirred up the town when she cut her hair into a bob, embracing the “flapper” style of the 1920s liberated women who wore short hair and defied social norms. At 19, pregnant and facing judgment from the Vimmerby villagers, she moved to Stockholm. Her son, Lars, was born in 1926, but she had to place him in foster care because she couldn’t afford to support him. It was the hardest thing she ever did.
While in Stockholm, Lindgren studied stenography and found a job as a secretary, though the pay barely covered food, rent, and train trips to Copenhagen to see Lars. She later worked at the Royal Swedish Automobile Club, writing tour guides for drivers, where she met Sture Lindgren. They married on April 4, 1931, after which she happily gained custody of Lars. Their daughter, Karin, was born in 1934. For a number of years, she set aside her natural ability to write…until Karin rekindled it, that is. In fact, it wasn’t until the 1940s that she began to reconsider her childhood decision. Pippi Longstocking was created in 1941 when seven-year-old Karin, bored and stuck in bed with pneumonia, asked her mother for a story about “Pippi Långstrump” (Longstocking). Karin had made up the name, and it instantly sparked Lindgren’s imagination, leading her to dream up tales about the wiry, spirited, freckle-faced Pippi, whose braids jutted out to either side. Pippi quickly became a favorite with Karin and her friends. Lively little Pippi would go on to make Astrid Lindgren among the most widely translated authors ever, after she shot to fame in the 1940s with her creation of the beloved 
storybook character. Throughout her life, she penned over 40 children’s books, selling around 145 million copies across the globe. Lindgren passed away at her home in central Stockholm on January 28, 2002, at the age of 94. Her funeral was held at Storkyrkan in Gamla stan, attended by King Carl XVI Gustaf, Queen Silvia, other members of the royal family, and Prime Minister Göran Persson. Dagens Nyheter described the ceremony as “the closest you can get to a state funeral.” It was a fitting tribute to a beloved author.
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