Lena Anderson

Not to be confused with Lena Andersson (author).

Lena Anderson (born 27 May 1939^[1]) is a Swedish children's book illustrator and author.

Lena Anderson
Born	(1939-05-27) 27 May 1939 (age 85) Stockholm, Sweden
Occupation(s)	children's book illustrator and author

Anderson was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1939.^[2] She first gained international success for her illustrations in the 1985 picture book Linnea in Monet's Garden, which was translated into English in 1987.^[3][4] The book, which she made with Christina Björk, took five years to finish.^[2] She has worked on multiple other books with writer Christina Björk,^[3] including a series of children's stories with the character Linnea.^[5]

Anderson mainly draws nature-based illustrations. Her work draws from traditional Swedish picture book styles, similar to that of Elsa Beskow's work.^[6][7]

Selected works

Illustrator

• Linnea Planterar ("Linnea's Windowsill Garden") (1978; English trans., 1988), by Christina Björk^[4][8]
• Linnea in Monet's Garden (1985; English trans., 1987)^[3]
• Linnea's Almanac (1985; English trans., 1989), by Christina Björk^[9][8]

Author and illustrator

• Majas alfabet ("Maja's Alphabet") (1984)^[6]
• Stina (1988; English trans., 1989)^[3]
• Bunny Party (1989)^[10]
• Stina's Visit (1989; English trans., 1991)^[3]
• ABC, sa lilla t ("ABC, Said Little T") (1994)^[6]
• Tea for Ten (1998; English trans., 2000)^[3]
• Tick-Tock (1998)^[11]

Awards

In 1984, Anderson won the Elsa Beskow-plaketten [sv]. She received the Rabén & Sjögren's illustrator scholarship [sv] in 1984.^[12] In 1988, Anderson won the Astrid Lindgren Prize along with Christina Björk.^[13] Also in 1988, Linnea in Monet's Garden received the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis (German Children's Literature Award) in the children's book category.^[14]

Anderson was awarded the Illis quorum medal by the Government of Sweden on 13 July 2023.^[15]