Jakob Martin Strid – The Fantastic Bus

"Of all Strid's drawings, these are the first that have given me a jolt: He truly is one of the greats."

Jakob Martin Strid (b. 1972) stands on the shoulders of international legends such as Bill Waterson, Charles Schulz, Astrid Lindgren, Tove Jansson, and Hayao Miyazaki. At the same time, he carries on the Danish tradition with renewed vigor, in a direct line from Storm P. through Claus Deleuran and Ib Spang Olsen to Rune T. Kidde.

He is known and loved for The Incredible Story of the Giant Pear, My Grandmother's Dentures, and the books about Little Frog, and also for the little blue elephant, Mimbo Jimbo.

In addition to winning the Nordic Council Children and Young People's Literature Prize in 2024 with the masterpiece The Fantastic Bus, Jakob Martin Strid has previously received the Dan Turèll Prize in 2001, the Children's Librarians' Culture Prize in 2008, the Orla Prize in 2008, the Ministry of Culture's Illustrator Prize in 2009, the Crown Prince Couple's Culture Prize in 2012, the Ministry of Culture's Illustrator Prize in 2023, and the Søren Gyldendal Prize for Children's Literature in 2024.