"[2] She received the Hans Christian Andersen Medal for "lasting contribution to children's literature" in 1984[3] and was one of three people through 2012 to win both of these major international awards.

She worked as a graphic artist for a few years, before marrying a journalist, Ernst Nöstlinger, with whom she had two daughters.

She is known for controversial topics discussing race, gender, sexuality and nationality[4] Her first book was Die feuerrote Friederike, published in 1970, which she illustrated herself.

WorldCat reports that her work most widely held in participating libraries is Fly away home (Maikäfer flieg, 1973).

[5] In 2021, an award in her name, Christine-Nöstlinger-Preis, was jointly established by the city of Vienna and the Union of Austrian book publishers.