ABSTRACT
Children's literature in the Nordic countries is comparatively well thought of. There are special Institutes for children's books in Finland, Norway and Sweden. Criticism and research are growing and several dissertations have been published since the 1970s, mainly in Sweden. Since 1983 there has been a special Chair of Children's Literature at the University of Stockholm. Children's reading has been stimulated in various ways through collaboration between schools and the public libraries. As a cultural export children's literature has been quite successful and many Nordic children's authors are internationally well-known. Among those who have been awarded the prestigious H.C.Andersen Medal are Astrid Lindgren and Maria Gripe (Sweden), Tove Jansson (Finland), Cecil Bødker, Ib Spang Olsen and Svend Otto S (Denmark) and Tormod Haugen (Norway).
