South Korean author and illustrator Baek Heena has won the 2020 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the world's largest children's book prize.

In a statement on Tuesday, the jury of the Swedish award said "with exquisite feeling for materials, looks and gestures, Baek Heena's filmic picture books stage stories about solitude and solidarity."

The jury added that Baek's work is "a doorway to the marvelous: sensuous, dizzying and sharp."

Baek is the first South Korean author to win the prize, established by the Swedish government in 2002 to honor Swedish children's author Astrid Lindgren, who wrote the 1945 novel "Pippi Longstocking."

One of the most-renowned picture book artists in South Korea, Baek has published 13 books so far, including the 2004 best-seller "Cloud Bread."