Astrid Lindgren was born in Sweden in 1907. During the course of her life she wrote over 40 books for children. She once commented: 'I write to amuse the child within me, and can only hope that other children may have some fun that way too.' Many of her stories are based upon her memories of childhood, and filled with lively and unconventional characters. Perhaps the best known is Pippi Longstocking, first published in Sweden in 1945. It was an immediate success with children, and was later published in England in 1954. During her lifetime, Lindgren was awarded dozens of Swedish and international prizes for her writing, among them the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen medal in 1958: widely considered the ultimate accolade for an author of children's books. In 1989 a theme park dedicated to her - Astrid Lindgren's World - was opened in the author's home town of Vimmerby. She died in 2002.