Oscar-winning Australian illustrator, Shaun Tan has been awarded for his works at the world’s largest children’s literature prize, Sweden’s Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.

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Tan, who said in his Oscar’s speech that he was unemployed when he worked on the piece that gave him the ‘unexpected’ win, will also be awarded five million krona in prizemoney - - a staggering $A765,000.

The Aussie illustrator told the Australian Associated Press (AAP) that he was tempted to drop the call from an unknown number.

"I had my hands in the sink when this phone call came and I thought, `Who's ringing me now?' I was actually slightly annoyed by it." Shaun Tan said.

"I couldn't recognise the number or the country code. Tan was quoted as saying by the AAP. "I was on the verge of dismissing it, but I thought, `I'm probably going to have to ring them back and it's going to be expensive, so I better answer it'."

But he noted he could not be happier getting an unrecognized number ringing him while he was cleaning up at his home in Melbourne.

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The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award said AAP is given to ‘outstanding author, illustrator or oral storyteller in children’s and young adult’s literature.

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Lauding the works created by Tan, the citation of the award read: "Shaun Tan sees every book as an experiment in visual and verbal storytelling."

It added how Tan is able to create a pictorial narrative in his every work.

The statement added: Tan has reinvented the picture book by creating visually spectacular pictorial narratives with a constant human presence."

The Australian illustrator claimed that he is humbled being chosen over 170 nominees worldwide.

"Many of these people I've grown up reading. Their books are all over my bookshelves, many of them have been inspirations for me in deciding to become a picture book illustrator so this feels really bizarre," Shaun Tan said.

The moon has continued to be on Shaun Tan’s side after winning the highly prestigious honor at 83rd Academy Award on February 27, 2011 for his short film adaptation of “The Lost Thing”.

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