Inger and Lasse Sandberg

The 1950s Inger and Lasse got married in the spring of 1950 and moved to the Värmland countryside. This was long before the "Green Wave". Lasse, after spending a year on Backman's Illustration line, was already an established cartoonist and illustrator, something he continued to do. In addition, he was asked to make illustrations for stories published in the children's pages of various newspapers and magazines. The collaboration with Inger started in 1950 when Lasse asked Inger to write stories for his illustrations. In the fall of 1951, they moved to Strängnäs, where Inger began her teacher training. In the spring of 1952, their first child, Lena, was born. Inger took a break from studying but continued with them a year later. Lasse became a householder, took care of Lena during the day and drew at night. Inger graduated in 1954 and became a certified primary school teacher. In the summer of 1955 Niklas was born and the family moved to Karlstad. Books: Inger and Lasse Sandberg's first book Fåret Ullrik Får Medalj was published in 1953 by the small publisher Eklunds. In 1959, the book Jonas, the car, and the adventure was published. The 1960s A collection of stories, Godnattsagor På Rullgardinen, was released in 1960. Inger and Lasse were not only able to work with all their ideas from the 50s, but also a number of new ones. This was the start of a huge production. 30 Sandberg books of varying nature were published during the 1960s, 23 animated children's programs were produced and there were 2 theater performances. In 1965, Lasse received the Elsa Beskow plate for his illustrations in the picture book Lilla Spöket Laban. Inger searched books and libraries for books that she thought were necessary but that were not available. This is the reason behind the conception of the first 5 Little Anna and Long Uncle books. These interactive picture books, aimed at children aged 0-3, were published in 1962 when the Sandberg family was waiting for their third child to arrive. At Christmas 1962, a boy, Mathias, was born. In 1964, the first Little Anna book was released in the United States. A release in Sweden and throughout Europe followed a year later. Inger and Lasse produced the types of picture books that had not existed before. In 1969, the book Filurstjärnan was published with an environmental theme in cartoon format.

In the 1970s, Inger developed an interest in schools in London, in particular an "open plan" school that was later featured in the picture book Lilla Anna in Glada skolan and in two programs for Swedish educational TV. The first of Sandberg's three anti-smoking books came out in 1971, "What is smoking?". Lasse had playfully begun to introduce collage in his illustrations and picture books during the 1950s. In the 60s and 70s, Lasse's collage art developed into large, inspiring picture books. Little Anna and Spöket Laban reappeared and demanded to be included in television programs and the new books. In 1978, a new much-loved character, Thumb, was born. Tummen and his mother appeared in several books and about 20 TV shows. In 1978-79 Inger and Lasse traveled to Australia and New Zealand where they lectured and appeared on both radio and television programs. They became very interested in the education system in New Zealand. 1980s It was in the 1980s that the grandson Pulvret began to appear in a series of books together with his grandparents. The Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra composed music influenced by the book White and Black and All the Others. The books Lilla Nollan and Dom Andra and Sandberg's ABCD were also published in the 80s. Inger's free knitting was described in the book Mina Glada Tröjor, which was released in 1985. Inger and Lasse traveled to the USA and Venezuela on work-related trips and to participate in exhibitions. In 1989, Lasse's art book Bilder Från Klotet was published. In the 1990s, in 1992, the book "håld dig sekjer" Nej, Sa Lilla P. Inger and Lasse also created the first four books STOR and the small books in Swedish. These books were used in schools to help children learn to read, a system based on the one used in New Zealand. In 1995, Inger took a break from writing since her work as a "guest writer" in Singapore, Taipei, Seoul, USA, Australia and New Zealand required a lot of time and energy. In 1996, Lasse wrote and illustrated a book with Hubertus Jansson called När Jag Var Mindre - En Bok För Större Barn. The exhibition ran until April 1, 2002. Inger started writing again and since 2003 four new books have been released; WEIRD, SAID LITTLE C, THUMB FESTIVAL, WHO IS THAT CALLING? SAID THE GHOST LABAN and IS IT CHRISTMAS AGAIN? SAID THE GHOST OF LABAN. On November 12, 2008, Lasse Sandberg left us and on May 16, 2023, Inger Sandberg left us, we miss them both tremendously. To this day, Inger and Lasse are still considered to be one of Sweden's greatest illustrators and children's book authors ever and have given children all over the world a fantastic fairy tale world.