Ana Maria Machado

Ana Maria Machado (born 24 December 1941) is a Brazilian writer of children's books, one of the most significant alongside Lygia Bojunga Nunes and Ruth Rocha. She received the international Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 2000 for her "lasting contribution to children's literature". She also won the SM Ibero-American Prize for Children's and Young Adult Literature in 2012.

Life Ana Maria Machado was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1941.

In 1969, Ana Maria Machado started to write. "I belong to that generation of writers who began to write during the military dictatorship, as children’s literature, alongside poetry and song texts, were amongst the few literary forms with which, through the poetic and symbolic use of language, you could make the ideas of a joie de vivre, individual freedom and respect for human rights known." Her story Menina Bonita do laço de fita (1986; translated into English as Nina Bonita: A Story, 2001, ) about a white and a black rabbit who marry and have a whole hoard of black, white and black and white patterned children, is a charming book about the living together of diverse ethnic groups. In 'Era uma vez um tirano' (1982) three children defy a tyrant who has forbidden colour, thoughts and any happiness. Without pointing fingers, Ana Maria Machado always dresses up her messages in humorous stories and trusts the ability of her young readers to also read between the lines.

Similar to many Brazilian children's book authors of her generation, Ana Maria Machado is said to be in the tradition of the great children's book author, Jose Bento Monteiro Lobato.