Jon Klassen had just dropped his two sons, aged seven and nine, off to school in Los Angeles when he received a call from the jury for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award:
I had been running up a hill, was out of breath and didn't expect anyone to call, and certainly not to get news like this, he says.
Even though it's getting late at home in Los Angeles, he doesn't sound tired in the slightest. Jon Klassen describes the prize - and the prize money of five million kronor - as "a shock of luck."
I was completely knocked out, it's amazing! I knew about the nomination but I'd been working hard to convince myself that this wasn't possible.
Likes to hint
He was born in Winnipeg, Canada, in 1981. After graduating, he moved to Los Angeles to work on animated films at DreamWorks Animation. Even then, he preferred to leave things out of his stories, something that didn't work well in films but suited his own picture books much better.
I didn't want to show when the important thing happened, or when something scary happened. I was a sensitive child, a sensitive observer. I also found it much more intellectually challenging to hint than to show everything all the time.
At the age of 30, he had his breakthrough with the picture book “I Want My Hat,” about a bear who has lost his hat. The small hat doesn’t fit the big bear well, but he loves it and wants it back. When he gets it, the rabbit is suddenly gone. But what happened?
You know the rabbit has been punished, but what happened depends on the viewer's sensitivity. I wanted to leave that to the audience. Children get very excited by being trusted.
Absurd dialogue
In "The Stone from Heaven" (2021), a group of animals ponders which place is best to stand - the dialogue is humorous and absurd, like Samuel Beckett, the ALMA jury emphasizes.
Swedish publisher Erik Titusson describes Klassen as an innovator who has the reader in mind.
It's always a lot of fun and lots of laughter. He has a very unique and subtle sense of humor.
In the fall of 2023, he released the graphic novel “The Skull,” a chapter book about a headless skeleton who wants his skull back. However, that story is more about the fearless protagonist Otilla’s friendship with the lonely skull.
These are books that you really carry with you and return to, says jury chair Boel Westin.
Facts: Jon Klassen
Born: 1981 in Winnipeg, Canada
Career: After studying illustration, he moved to Los Angeles in 2005 where he worked as an illustrator in film and music. His CV includes films such as “Coraline” (2009) and “Kung Fu Panda 2” (2011). He made his debut as a picture book author in 2011 with “I Want My Hat”, which has been translated into more than 20 languages and sold over 1 million copies. The book is the first in the multiple award-winning “Hat Trilogy”. He has since written and illustrated several picture and children's books and illustrated a long series of books where others have written the text.
His ongoing project includes a series of 'point' books (“Your forest”, “Your farm”, “Your island”) where each spread contains a simple image that is presented briefly and objectively, sometimes with just one word.
"Through his subtle and suggestive storytelling in text and images, Jon Klassen opens new perspectives on our place in the universe," writes the ALMA jury in its justification.
When Astrid Lindgren passed away in 2002, the government established an international award in her name to increase interest in children's and young adult literature around the world. The award's name is abbreviated ALMA after the English Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.
The prize money is five million kronor, making it the world's largest of its kind. The person or organization that receives the prize must work in the spirit of Astrid Lindgren and uphold democratic values. The winner is selected by a jury of twelve people.
The last five years' award winners:
2025 Marion Brunet, France
2024 Indigenous Literacy Foundation, Australia
2023 Laurie Halse Anderson, USA
2022 Eva Lindström, Sweden
2021 Jean-Claude Mourlevat, France
