Passed down from child to child

Annika Lindgren, granddaughter of "Swedish fairytale grandmother" Astrid Lindgren, introduced a complete collection of the writer's tales to Beijing Book Fair in September.

The 14 volumes, including the classic Pippi Longstockings, is the first time that Lindgren's books have been published as a single entity in China, by its Chinese copyright holder, China Children's Press and Publication Group.

Lindgren's tales have had a profound influence on generations of Chinese children. Li Zhiyi, its Chinese translator, says his whole life has been bound up with Lindgren since the 1980s, when he picked up her books to sweep away the depression of studying playwright August Strindberg.

"I learned from my grandmother the wisdom of always respecting and listening to children," Lindgren says. "And I passed that down to my children."