In 2022 we celebrated 50 years with Alfie Atkins – but who is behind this popular little boy? Meet one of Sweden’s most well-known authors and illustrators of all time, Gunilla Bergström. When she passed away in 2021 she left a whole universe that lives on.
It seems like most people have their own favourite Alfie Atkins story. In Sweden people have grown up with expressions such as “I just have to” or “It’s good to be bored.” They have imagined themselves in Alfie’s helicopter, visualised a lion in their closet and pretended to fall asleep on the floor, just like Alfie’s father. For over 50 years Swedish author and illustrator Gunilla Bergstöm created characters from her studio in central Stockholm. But while millions of fans across the world have grown up with a small boy and his father, few know of the woman behind the books. When Gunilla Bergström passed away in August 2021, she had written and illustrated 26 Alfie Atkins books. The classic stories have been translated into 40 languages and sold 10 million copies worldwide.
SO WHERE DID the story begin? Gunilla Bergström grew up in Gothenburg, Sweden. Her love for drawing and telling stories started early on in her life. Her interest developed into a career and after completing a degree in journalism, she became a news reporter. She moved to Stockholm for work. A feature article on divorces for Sweden’s biggest tabloid newspaper turned into an idea for a children’s book – Mias pappa flyttar, published in 1971. The year after, in 1972, her first book about Alfie Atkins, Good Night, Alfie Atkins, was born.
Gunilla Bergström’s inspiration came from everyday life, and despite writing for children, her stories always had a sense of melancholy to them. Whether it was a pattern of a t-shirt, a night sky, imagination, or a piece of furniture, she was also a pioneer when it came to adding collage as storytelling in picture books –creating a sense of everyday mystery. As she herself wisely put it:
“Reality is fairytale enough! No princesses, adventures or spacemen! No flashy pictures and, above all, no pretty lies! I want to tell true stories about real people, just the way they behave in everyday life. Mini-dramas on a psychological level. It’s about mischief, about missing a friend, about being afraid of ghosts, about getting into fights, the end of Christmas … The kind of thing every child can recognise. But preferably there should also be room for something imagined, unexpected!”
After Bergström’s death, her family carries on her vision through her company Bok-Makaren, which continues to manage all the rights to her works. Together with partners such as Rights & Brands, they spread the stories to future generations, making the characters come to life through theatre, film, exhibitions, digital formats, and products.
ACCORDING TO ELISABET Granlund, partner and COO of Bok-Makaren, there is keen interest from children and adults alike to continue their favourite Alfie Atkins stories with a physical soft toy, a puzzle or perhaps a bedset depicting their favourite character.
“We want to continue this tradition abroad and this is where we think the partnership with Rights & Brands will really help us,” Granlund says.
Despite leaving the company to her son, nephew and brother-inlaw 10 years before she passed away, Bergström was a very wise and stable sounding board, Granlund recalls, and describes a very curious person. “Gunilla had a passion for different subjects such as philosophy, psychology and science, and Alfie Atkins was her tool for figuring things out. It could be friendship, fears, and more philosophical questions such as: What is it like to have a friend who unfriends you, or not to have a friend at all? What is it like to have a pretend friend? What happens when you hit someone who is younger? How do you say sorry? These are questions we wrestle with every day.”
“We are so happy for the collaboration with Rights & Brands. They have an understanding that the core gives life to a brand or character – in our case the books where the stories about Alfie Atkins are at the heart of everything we do. Based on Gunilla Bergström’s work, we want to spread, extend and bring Alfie’s world to life, which is why the collaboration with Rights & Brands feels just right for us.” – Sofia Torell, Gunilla Bergström’s niece.
NOT BEING ABLE to sleep, feeling small or starting school, are some of the recognizable events Alfie Atkins go through, and these are themes that are as relevant today as when they were first written, 50 years ago. “It’s about being human,” explains Elisabet Granlund.
“Alfie and his father live in a high-rise somewhere in the world, is it Sweden or perhaps Germany? I don’t know. Emotions and everyday life are quite similar, regardless of where you are. That timelessness allows us to continue working with Alfie Atkins into the future.”
ONE OF THE themes that Bok-Makaren has paid extra attention to is friendship. Since 2014 they have a collaboration with Stiftelsen Friends, a Swedish non-profit organisation that provides adults with research-based tools to prevent bullying among children and young people.
“Friends felt they had great educational tools for schools and sports associations, but they also realised that these issues start as early as preschool,” Elisabet Granlund says and mentions that Bok-Makaren and Friends have produced digital material as well as a special “Friendship box” available for all Swedish preschools together with publisher Rabén & Sjögren. “Together we saw a great potential for turning Alfie Atkins into a tool for addressing themes around friendship. We also launched the Friendship Day every third Thursday in October. The material, which is updated on a yearly basis, is connected to the Swedish curriculum, which makes it easy to work with.”
As of last year, the life and work of Gunilla Bergström has moved a little bit closer to home. After her death, her Stockholm studio was dismantled and moved to the Alfie Atkins Cultural Centre in Gothenburg where artist Tor Svae designed a new, child-friendly replica. Here visitors can take part of her world, complete with the blue wooden chair from where she sketched and wrote stories about Alfie Atkins. Above all, the work of a very dedicated author and illustrator emerges.
“BESIDES PENS, PENCILS and paper there was a lot of textile, yarn, and cut-outs from magazines for her collages, in her studio. There was also a notice board with wise words and quotes that inspired her. Spending time in here makes you understand how much was put into every word and every pencil stroke. In the book Alfie and The Soldier Daddy there is an ant and when you look into her research behind it you’ll understand the level of effort she put into every detail,” Granlund says. “She didn’t view herself as just an author or just an illustrator, but both. She was a true creator.”
About Gunilla Bergström (1942–2021)
Born in Gothenburg, Sweden. Author, journalist and illustrator. She is best known for the children’s books about Alfie Atkins. She produced 26 titles, which have been translated into 40 languages and sold in 10 million copies worldwide. Many of the stories have been adapted to film, television and theatre shows. In Gothenburg, you can visit The Alfie Atkins Cultural Centre, a creative place for children and their grownups, run as a non-profit organization.
Gunilla Bergström started out as a journalist for Swedish newspapers such as GT, Dagens Nyheter and Aftonbladet. Her debut as an author and illustrator came in 1971 with the children’s book Mias pappa flyttar, about a 7-year-old girl whose parents get divorced. Besides Alfie Atkins, Bergström’s other book series include Bill and Bolla, first published in 1978 – which is inspired by her daughter, diagnosed with autism.
About BOK-MAKAREN
Bok-Makaren manages all the rights to the works of author and illustrator Gunilla Bergström and is owned by Gunilla Bergström’s son Pål Andersson, her niece Sofia Torell and her brother-in-law Michael Treschow. Together with their passionate partners, they are devoted to bringing the stories to future generations, making the characters come to life through theatre, film, exhibitions, digital formats, and products.
Text by: Jonna Dagliden Hunt
This article was orignally published in R&B Magazine issue 3
Interested in a collaboration with Alfie Atkins? Hit us with your idea by sending an e-mail to licensing@rightsandbrands.com