The strongest girls in the world

Above all, I would like to emphasize the special importance Astrid Lindgren has had for me and millions of other girls, not only in Sweden, but in the whole world. Astrid isn't just a uniting force, but also a liberating and rebellous one. Amongst Winnie the Pooh, Le Petit Prince, Babar, Dennis

the Menace and Peter Pan, we suddenly have a Lotta, a Mischievous Meg, a Ronia the Robber's daughter, and last but not least a Pippi Longstocking.

Something happens in the hearts of all girls

When Lotta runs away from home and cuts her white cardigan into shreds, when Mischievous Meg tries to fly with her umbrella from the roof of the woodshed, when Ronia gets into a fight with her father and releases the "springtime

scream", and when Pippi with her monkey Mr Nilsson on her shoulder refuses to behave at the coffee party, and throws up a bunch of boys in the trees, a feeling of true happiness enters the hearts of the reading girls. You have

the right to be just like that, a little crazy actually.

Allows girls to be cocky

To me, Astrid Lindgren has been the pep talk of all times. Astrid allows all her Pippi-like girls cross the limits, she liberates the girls from traditional girly categories such as decency and goodness, and lets them soar freely and unpredictably.

Gave girls the leading roles.

With Astrid Lindgren came the girls that dared, that were noisy, that were different, that "gave tit for tat", that were extremely verbal, that were imaginative, funny and absolutely fantastic. Girls with provocative characters, around which exciting stories could circulate, girls that weren't just passive subordinate characters, which still is the norm in children's books and literature in general. Yes, girls like us could simply recognize ourselves. Thanks Astrid for everything you've written, but especially for this.