Yesterday the Australian artist Shaun Tan was announced as the winner of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. A prestigious prize, with the largest prize money of any in Children's literature. Tan has not only just been handed a cheque for £490,000, he also recently won an Oscar for his short animation 'The Lost Thing'. The animation was adapted from his picture book, of the same title (picture right), and you can download the short on iTunes.
If you don't know Tan's work, it's worth familiarising yourself, because we are certainly going to be seeing a lot more of him! His most recent book 'Tales of Outer Suburbia' (image right) is a collection of short stories, with a good mix of his both his painterly style and exquisite pencil work.