Ilon's Wonderland

Maire-Ilon Wikland (née Pääbo; born 5 February 1930) is an Estonian-born Swedish artist and illustrator. Wikland was born in Tartu, Estonia and raised in Haapsalu, Lääne County on Estonia's Baltic coast. In 1944 she escaped with the family of a classmate from the second Soviet occupation of Estonia, to Sweden, where she arrived as a refugee. In 1953 Wikland applied for a job as illustrator at Rabén & Sjögren. She was met by Astrid Lindgren, who had just finished writing the book Mio, my Son and who could see immediately that Wikland was able to "draw fairytales". Wikland did a test-drawing for the book and after that her collaboration with Lindgren continued. Wikland has said that Lindgren's writing continually makes her see inner pictures. She also derives inspiration for her pictures from real life. In the same way that Lindgren wrote for "the child within her", Wikland often also draws for the child within her. Wikland is the artist who has illustrated the greatest number of Lindgren's books: