Children’s literature occupies a particular position in literary culture. It is evaluated as literature and art, but also in relation to its perceived social value, often associated with children’s reading, development and education. Today, questions of why children should read – but also which children’s literature is worth reading – have taken on renewed urgency. 

Literary prizes play an important role in processes through which literature is evaluated, recognised and consecrated. Established by the Swedish government in 2002, the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA) is, in terms of prize money, the world’s largest award for children’s and young adult literature. Through its association with Astrid Lindgren, the award also forms part of the international representation of Sweden as a literary nation and communicates particular ideas about children, literature and reading. 

Worth and Wonder examines value-creating processes through a comprehensive study of ALMA. The project focuses on three interconnected contexts: ALMA as a literary and cultural-policy institution; the laureates’ public communication about literature and art; and ALMA-related reading-promotion initiatives in schools and libraries.  

The project brings together perspectives from children’s literature studies, the sociology of literature, prize studies and literature education. It is based on a substantial body of empirical material, including interviews and institutional and public communication, complemented by ethnographic fieldwork at book fairs and other literary events. 

Research Questions 

The project is organised around three interconnected areas of investigation: 

ALMA as a literary and cultural-policy institution 
How are ideas of value shaped and negotiated through ALMA’s cultural-policy role, institutional practices and communication? 

The poetics of the ALMA laureates 
How do ALMA laureates articulate and negotiate ideas about literature, art, reading and childhood in their public communication? 

ALMA in educational practice 
How are aesthetic, pedagogical and social values interpreted and put into practice in ALMA-related reading-promotion initiatives in schools and libraries.  

Together, these areas address the project’s overarching research question: 

What conditions shape the valuation of children’s literature, how do these differ from those surrounding literature for adults, and how are such values created, negotiated and reinforced through the practices and discourses surrounding the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award? 

Project Information 

The full title of the project is Worth and Wonder: Exploring Aesthetic and Pedagogical Values of Children’s Literature through the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. 

The project is a collaboration between the Swedish Institute for Children’s Books and Uppsala University and is hosted by the Swedish Institute for Children’s Books. It is funded by the Swedish Research Council and runs from 2026 to 2029.

Advisory Board 

The project is supported by an international advisory board bringing together expertise in children’s literature, literary prizes, world literature, the sociology of literature, reading studies, cultural policy and publishing. 

Elina Druker – Professor of Literature, specialising in children’s and young adult literature, Stockholm University; former member of the ALMA jury. Profile 

Åse Hedemark – Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer in Library and Information Science, Uppsala University, with research expertise in reading and reading promotion. Profile 

Stefan Helgesson – Professor of English, Stockholm University, specialising in world literature. Profile 

Vanessa Joosen – Professor of English Children’s Literature, University of Antwerp. Profile 

Kenneth B. Kidd – Professor at the University of Florida, with research expertise in children’s literature and literary prizes. Profile 

Jerry Määttä – Associate Professor in Literature and Senior Lecturer in Publishing Studies, Stockholm University, with research expertise in the sociology of literature and literary prizes. Profile 

Lucy Pearson – Senior Lecturer in Children’s Literature and Director of the Children’s Literature Unit, Newcastle University, with research expertise in children’s literature and literary prizes. Profile 

Erik Titusson – Publishing Director and Publisher; former Head of the ALMA Office. 

Åsa Warnqvist – Director and Research Manager at the Swedish Institute for Children’s Books; Associate Professor in Literature. Swedish Institute for Children’s Books 

Special Issue on Children’s Literature Prizes 

As part of the project, we are bringing together new research on children’s literature prizes and awards in a special issue of Barnboken: Journal of Children’s Literature Research, for which we are serving as guest editors. 

The call for papers will be published in autumn 2026. 

Publications from the Project 

Rüegg, Jana, Tuva Haglund & Malin Nauwerck. Forthcoming. “Ett halvt Nobelpris? Prisstruktur, pristagarstatistik och prismotiveringar i ALMA-priset och Nobelpriset i litteratur.” In Litteratursamhällets förvandlingar. Nordica Helsingiensia. Helsinki: Department of Finnish, Finno-Ugrian and Scandinavian Studies, University of Helsinki. 

Nauwerck, Malin, Jana Rüegg & Tuva Haglund. 2026. “In the Pursuit of Diversity? Geolinguistic Reach, Cultural Narratives, and Prestige from the Margins in the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.” International Research in Children’s Literature 19 (2): 136–153. 

Nauwerck, Malin, Jana Rüegg & Tuva Haglund. 2026. “Appendix: In the Pursuit of Diversity?” 

Related Publications 

Nauwerck, Malin. 2026. “Vad belönas? Utgivningsårets barnlitterära priser och utmärkelser.” Bokprovning 2026, 11–14. 

Media and Outreach 

“Nu ska ALMA-priset studeras vetenskapligt – för första gången.” Svensk Bokhandel, 6 November 2025.