Maria Gripe, born Maja Stina Walter (25 July 1923 – 5 April 2007), was a Swedish author of books for children and young adults, which were often written in magical and mystical tone. She has written almost forty books, with many of her characters presented in short series of three or four books (e.g. Hugo and Josephine books, the Shadow series, and the titles about Lotten). For her lasting contribution to children's literature, she received the Hans Christian Andersen Medal for Writing in 1974. **Source**: [Maria Gripe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Gripe) on Wikipedia.