Stina Wirsén facts for kids

Stina Wirsén (2017) photo by Ulrika Zwenger

Stina Wirsén Hedengren (born 1968) is a talented Swedish author and illustrator. She is well-known for her many children's books and her unique drawing style.

Early Life and Art Studies

Stina Wirsén was born in 1968 in Stockholm, Sweden. She loved making art from a very young age. She studied art at Konstfack in Stockholm from 1985 to 1992. This is a famous art and design school in Sweden.

Stina Wirsén's Career

Stina Wirsén worked as an illustrator for a big Swedish newspaper called Dagens Nyheter from 1990 to 2010. For some of those years, she was even in charge of the newspaper's illustration department.

After 2010, she started working on her own as a freelance illustrator and author. This means she could work for many different clients and create her own books. She has won several awards for her amazing illustrations.

Stina Wirsén's drawings often mix different styles. This is true for her children's books too. She writes many kinds of books for kids, including ABC-books, story collections, and picture books. She is also a member of the Swedish Children's Book Academy, which is a group that supports children's literature.

One of her books, Little Pink and the Motley Crew (2014), caused some discussion. The book featured a character named Lilla Hjärtat (Little Heart). Some people felt the character's appearance was similar to old, harmful drawings. Stina Wirsén listened to these concerns. In November 2012, she announced that she would no longer use the Lilla Hjärtat character in her future work.

Personal Life

Stina Wirsén is married to Pompe Hedengren, who is a graphic designer. They have three children together.

Special Projects and Work

An illustration by Stina Wirsén for "Vision Kulturmiljö 2030"

Stina Wirsén has worked on many interesting projects around the world:

• Since 2000, she has given talks and workshops in many countries. She often focuses on art for children aged 2–6 years. She has worked with children and art in places like Abu Dhabi, Tokyo, Bologna, Umeå, and Stockholm.
• For Åhléns City, a large department store in Stockholm, she created a huge 25-meter-wide fashion illustration. She drew it directly onto handmade tiles in the beauty section.
• She designed stamps for the Swedish Post Office. This series of 8 stamps showed creations by different Swedish fashion designers.
• Stina Wirsén made graphic illustrations for the UN Human Rights. These were printed on 14 million copies of the Swedish telephone directory. The illustrations were even shown at the UN headquarters in New York. This was for the 50-year anniversary of the Human Rights declaration.
• She has done both volunteer and paid work for Save the Children, Sweden. This includes illustrations for their magazine called BARN (CHILDREN).
• In 2015, Google featured her "doodle" illustration on their homepage worldwide. This special drawing celebrated diversity on the Swedish National Day.

Art Exhibitions

Stina Wirsén's art has been shown in many exhibitions:

• Sven-Harrys konstmuseum (2014): An exhibition called "Swedish Fashion: 2000 – 2015" showed how Swedish fashion changed quickly. It featured clothes from designers and fashion illustrations by Stina Wirsén.
• Bror Hjorts Hus (2013): This was a solo exhibition focusing on her children's book illustrations. It also included some of her fashion and portrait drawings.
• Svenska Ambassaden i Tokyo (2012): A large Swedish design exhibition was held during Tokyo Design Week. Stina Wirsén's work was part of this event.
• Nationalmuseum (2010): The "Handgjort" (handmade) exhibition focused on hand-drawn lines. It showed a conversation between Stina Wirsén's illustrations and older drawings from the museum's collection.
• Konstnärshuset (2009): A solo exhibition of her drawings about Stockholm's bar and restaurant scene.
• Dunkers Kulturhus (2015): Her picture book and fashion sketches were shown alongside an exhibition by Swedish fashion designer Bea Szenfeld.

Selected Books

Stina Wirsén has written and illustrated many books. Here are some of them:

• Jag har fått en klocka! (1991)
• Sakboken (1995)
• Djurboken (1995)
• Liten och stor (1995)
• Tussas Kalas (1996) (with Martin Vårdstedt and Anna Hörling)
• Siffror och Nuffror (1997) (with Anna Hörling)
• Hallå därinne! (2010) (with Ulf Stark)
• En stjärna vid namn Ajax (with Ulf Stark)
• Systern från havet (with Ulf Stark)
• Full cirkus på Sockerbullen (2012) (with Carin Wirsén)
• Jag (2012)
• Liten (2015) – a book about children's safety and grown-ups' responsibility. It was made for the Swedish Crime Victim Compensation and Support Authority.

Children's Book Series – Hedvig!

(written by Frida Nilsson)

• Hedvig!
• Hedvig och sommaren med steken
• Hedvig och Hardemos prinsessa

Children's Book Series – Rut och Knut

(written by Carin Wirsén)

• Rut och Knut lagar mat
• Rut och Knut ställer ut
• Rut och Knut gräver ut
• Rut och Knut klär ut sig
• Rut och Knut börjar träna
• Rut och Knut och lilla Tjut
• ABC med Rut och Knut
• Lilla ABC med Rut och Knut
• Supershow med Rut och Knut

Children's Book Series – Vem? (Who?)

This popular series explores different feelings and situations.

• Vems byxor? (2005)
• Vem är arg? (2005)
• Vem bestämmer? (2006)
• Vem blöder? (2006)
• Vems mormor? (2007)
• Vem är ensam? (2007)
• Vem är söt? (2008)
• Vem är borta? (2008)
• Vem är bäst? (2009)
• Vem sover inte? (2009)
• Vem är död? (2010)
• Vems kompis? (2010)
• Vems bebis? (2011)
• Vem städar inte? (2011)
• Vem kommer nu? (2012)
• Vem är sjuk? (2012)
• Vem är var? (2012)
• Vems hus? (2015)
• Vem är stor? (2016)
• Vems syskon? (2016)

The "Vem?" books were turned into an animated TV series in 2010. It is often shown on Sveriges Television, which is Sweden's public television channel.

Children's Book Series – Brokiga (Motley Crew)

• En liten skär och många små brokiga (with Carin Wirsén)
• Dela! (2013)
• Titta! (2014)
• Bygga! (2014)
• Nej! (2015)
• Rita! (2015)

Awards and Recognition

Stina Wirsén has received many awards for her work, including:

• The Society of Newspaper Design (1997)
• The Society of Scandinavian Illustrators (2001)
• Stockholm City Culture Prize
• Nordiska Tecknares Pris – Gold, Silver
• Award of Excellence by Society of Newspaper Design
• Elsa Beskow-plaketten (2000) for "Rut och Knut ställer ut”
• Expressens Heffaklump (2007) for "Supershow med Rut och Knut”
• Kolla! Svenska Tecknares Pris