STOCKHOLM - Astrid Lindgren, the Swedish author who captured the imaginations of children around the world for generations with the Pippi Longstocking stories and others, died here Monday at the age of 94, Swedish News Agency TT reported.

Lindgren died at her home in Stockholm following a viral infection, her daughter Karin Nyman told TT.

Astrid Lindgren was born November 14, 1907 on a farm near Vimmerby in southern Sweden. She wrote her first book, "Pippi Longstocking", in 1944 as a present for her daughter.

The book, featuring the antics of a strangely-dressed little girl with distinctive red pigtails and enormous physical strength who lived alone in a big house with her horse, ape and a treasure chest full of gold incarnated children's dreams of freedom and power.

The "Pippi" stories have since been translated into 60 languages and sold millions of copies around the world. They have been adapted for the screen in many versions, including the "New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking" released internationally by Columbia pictures in 1988.

Lindgren was honored with numerous prizes for her work over the years, including the Lewis Carroll Shelf award which she received in 1973 in recognition of the "Pippi" stories and the international book award presented to her by the United Nation's Educational Division UNESCO.

Two museums in Sweden are devoted to Lindgren's work, Astrid Lindgren's world in Vimmerby in southern Sweden and Junibacken in Stockholm, both popular attractions for tens of thousands of visitors each year.