Sven Nordqvist
Sven Nordqvist ( born April 30, 1946 in Helsingborg, Sweden) is a Swedish artist. Nordqvist is in Germany and his native Sweden one of the most popular authors of children's books. He is best known for the books to Pettersson and Findus.
Life and work
Nordqvist grew up in Halmstad, Sweden, on. He wanted to be an artist from a young age actually, but was rejected by several art schools. He studied architecture at the Technical University in Lund and then worked as an architect and as a lecturer in Architecture at Lund. The same time he tried to continue as an illustrator in advertising and for postcards, posters and picture books. In 1983 he won in a children's book competition first prize and has been exclusively employed as an author and illustrator of children's books. He is married and has two grown sons.
Pettersson and Findus stories
In Nordqvist stories of Pettersson and Findus play on each side several small scenes from. Especially the cat Findus can be seen on many of these images have three, four or five times, for example when he shoos chickens, is on a unicycle on the road or the room cleaned by surfing on the mop. Nordqvist's images are rich in detail, including what minor characters, scenes of nature or the mess in the house, workshop, chicken coop and the garden of the old Pettersson terms. Nordqvist's stories are stories of everyday life and always end with a happy ending, or at least the restoration of the status quo.
The author himself says to the popularity of his books and his character: " I think it is the human dimension. Everything is manageable, you live in nature and is closer than in the city. Maybe we care more about the children, have more respect for them as individuals. And therefore Pettersson is so popular with children because it allows much because he does not punish and give security. "
Due to the success, there are now CDs, cassettes, computer games and even an animated series with Pettersson and Findus. Even dolls and human theater (such as the theater puddle ) play the stories after.
Further work
Awards
Sven Nordqvist 1989 received the Elsa Beskow Plaque, In 1992, Sven Nordqvist and Pelle Eckerman the German Youth Literature Award in the category of children's non-fiction for her book lenses, magnifiers and magical Skope. In 2003, Sven Nordqvist Swedish Astrid Lindgren Prize for his oeuvre. In November 2007 he was for his picture book Where is my sister? awarded the August price.