Jury chair Larry Lempert said: "She's a traditional storyteller. It's her way of telling that takes people between imagination and reality." Mr Lempert described Crowther as, first and foremost, an illustrator and then an author, praising her use of simple materials and tools to illustrate books. "In Kitty Crowther we found an artist and storyteller strong in her humanity and sympathy... she follows the weak, she shows ways of life," he said.
Kitty Crowther is the winner of many international awards and prizes including the most coveted Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2010 whose previous winners have included Maurice Sendak and Philip Pullman. Born in Brussels to a Swedish mother and British father, Kitty now lives in Paris and is the illustrator and author of over 30 books for children.