9 minute read
The Colourful Ghosts of Pippendorf Manor
Ninka Reittu (b. 1982)
is an award-winning author-illustrator, who is based in Liperi in Eastern Finland.
Reittu imbues both images and text with a uniquely heart-warming air. Her inspiration of her children and animals are visible in the lively details in her illustrations. Her touching Super-series on a father and son relationship has been nominated for various awards, including You Are Super Loved for Finlandia Junior in 2017.
Her books have been translated into ten languages to date. Tully and Roly the Pony, starting a new series, has already been published in Danish and Serbian.
© Vesa Tyni
Tully and Roly’s Night in the Treehouse
(Pulla Vehnänen ja yö puumajassa) Age 3+ | 32 pages | Otava | 2022
Tully and Roly are tired of the grandmothers always telling them what to do. They want to decide for themselves, and the tree house at the back of the yard is a great place to try an independent life. But when the evening gets dark, independent living no longer feels so intriguing. Fortunately, the grandmothers start to understand that even children and ponies need to be able to have their say too.
Tully and Roly the Pony is a charming new picture book series about friendship, understanding and accepting one for who they are despite the differences. The thoughtful narration is combined with vivid and bubbly illustrations.
Tully and Roly the Pony
(Ystäväni Pulla Vehnänen) Age 3+ | 32 pages | Otava | 2021
Little Tully lives on a cosy farm together with her grandmothers and dreams about having her very own pony. When she encounters Roly at the nearby stables, she is convinced that this is the pony of her dreams. But suspicious Roly isn’t as sure and turns out to be as snappy and saucy as Tully herself. How will the two find common ground and ever understand one another?
You Are Super Loved
(Sinä olet superrakas) Age 3+ | 32 pages | Otava | 2017
Father and son share amazing adventures to find out what love is. Will it last if you are silly, or if you say no? Can super-love scare away monsters? This tender story about the superpowers of love is for fathers and sons and the superheroes of life everywhere.
My Super Bellybutton
(Oma rakas supernapa) Age 3+ | 32 pages | Otava | 2018
Father and son talk about strength, speed and round bellies. This humorous and sweet tale about body awareness helps to understand that everyone is perfect just the way they are.
I Feel Super!
(Silloin kun on superolo) Age 3+ | 32 pages | Otava | 2019 Father and son in superhero capes talk through emotions, what makes them happy and how to make others happy, too. Happiness shines through in a smile - and just like yawns, smiles are infectious!
Messi and Mystery Cat -series is about the power for imagination and friendship, how a young cat Messi is whisked into adventures with an inspiring friend Mystery, and together they get out of the stickiest spots. The series in Ninka Reittu's whimsical style first catapulted her into the international picture book scene.
Messi and Mystery Cat: Everything Will Be Fine!
(Messi ja Mysteeri: Kaikki järjestyy!) Age 3+ | 40 pages | Otava | 2013
Messi and Mystery Cat: Heading for an Adventure
(Messi ja Mysteeri: Käpälät kohti seikkailua) Age 3+ | 40 pages | Otava | 2015
Messi and Mystery Cat: Cat Race
(Messi ja Mysteeri: Kattiralli) Age 3+ | 40 pages | Otava | 2015
Katri Kirkkopelto (b. 1966)
is an award-winning artist, illustrator and art teacher who has a special talent for tailoring serious content to appeal to young children. She works closely with schools on material on emotional development. Her books support the child’s emotional and self-regulating development, and they have been translated into Dutch, Estonian and Russian to date.
© Katri Kirkkopelto
A subtle, warm-hearted picture book series embracing social and emotional learning.
Blue (Molli) is a furry character, who grows from suspicious solitary creature into a loyal friend, who learns to smile along the way, braves out of her house into the garden and the forest beyond. She worries and frets about the unknown and learns to overcome her fears and shyness while her self-awareness grows. Blue's philosophy is about acceptance, everyday bravery and self-confidence and learning to recognise and accept emotions and change.
Blue’s Christmas
(Mollin joulu) Age 3+ | 34 pages | Lasten keskus | 2022
Something strange is happening. Blue’s friends Pluck and Messy behave weirdly and speak all the time about Christmas, who will come soon. Blue has no idea who or what this strange Christmas is. Blue gets tips from her friends about how to prepare for Christmas and she wants to do everything well, but it is hard if you don’t understand what it is all about. Blue is worried what happens if she doesn’t behave well enough and gets no presents.
Blue’s Christmas is a story about anticipation, sharing and being happy together.
Blue and Mysterious Messy
(Molli ja salaperäinen Suttu) Age 3+ | 40 pages | Lasten keskus | 2021
Blue and Mysterious Messy is a cheerful and touching story about the importance of privacy, different habits, the challenges of living together and the line between selfishness and selflessness.
Blue loves her home but strange things keep on occurring. Things are misplaced, objects are falling off the shelves, and messy little footprints appear here and there.
Together with her friend Little Pluck, Blue bravely attempts to solve the mysterious events and ends up on a bit of an adventure.
Blue
(Molli) Age 4+ | 34 pages | Lasten keskus | 2016
Blue is a sincere story about friendship and loneliness, longing and determination, told with compassion and humour.
Blue and the Strange One
(Molli ja Kumma) 4+ | 36 pages | Lasten Keskus | 2018
As Blue and her friend Little Sisu try to find the answer to The Strange One’s secret, they are forced to reflect on fear, bravery and prejudice.
The Blue series for little ones deals with daily matters that any family can relate to. With less text and underlined message, the series introduces the relatable character of Blue to the smallest readers in the family. By shaking, flipping, and gently patting the pages of the book, surprising things happen on the next page. The topics deal with bedtime tantrums, picky eating and getting a cold.
Blue and the Edge of the World
(Molli ja maan ääri) Age 4+ | 40 pages | Lasten Keskus | 2019
Blue’s world consists of her house and garden. Blue feels safe there but recently she has been drawn to the mysterious forest behind the stone wall.
Blue and the Silly Sickness
(Molli ja pöpi pipi) Age 2+ | 24 pages Lasten Keskus | 2022
Blue’s Bedtime Fit of Laughter
(Mollin iltahepuli) Age 2+ | 24 pages Lasten keskus 2020
Blue and the Green Pea
(Molli ja hirveä herne) Age 2+ | 24 pages Lasten keskus | 2020
Linda Bondestam (b. 1977)
is one of the most celebrated illustrators of her generation and she has collaborated with numerous authors in Finland and abroad, most notably with Ulf Stark. Linda has been sitting on chair number 11 in the Swedish Children’s Book Academy since 2019. She has been nominated for a number of prizes for her vivid and playful illustrations, including the ALMA award, the August Prize and Finlandia Junior. She has won the Swedish Picture Book of the Year in 2016, the Nordic Council Prize in 2017 and was awarded the Family Initiative Prize for working in an admirable way for social security and increased well-being in families on a sustainable basis. Most recently, her works have been translated into Danish, English, Finnish, Italian, Latvian and Norwegian.
© Niklas Sandström
Good Morning Space
(God morgon rymden) Age 3+ | 40 pages | Förlaget M | 2022
Good Night Earth
(God natt på jorden) Age 3+ | 40 pages | Förlaget M | 2018
Good Morning Space is a sibling book to Linda Bondestam’s celebrated Good Night Earth. This time the perspective is reversed – it is now a child on Earth who is looking at other space beings. Unexpected point of view, funny surprises, cut pages and small tasks, like waking up a sleepyhead, makes it a peppy challenger to the classic feel-good story. From the savanna to the city to outer space, this book offers a charming peek at the many ways we settle in for sleep, with gorgeous, dreamlike illustrations full of offbeat humor.
Linda Bondestam’s debut as a picture book author is a beautiful bedtime story that stands out with its visual storytelling, illustrations full of wit and tenderness, distinctive choice of colour, a dash of humour, varied landscape, and surprising species. Die-cut pages invite little ones to discover how all kinds of creatures find peaceful and playful ways to end the day. English edition published spring 2021.
My Life at the Bottom
(Mitt bottenliv) Age 4+ | 42 pages | Förlaget M | 2020
An enchanting, surprising and touching story about climate change told by the voice of an astonishing and rare axolotl, how the environment is affected, and changed. Beautifully detailed illustrations depict the wonders of the underworld.
An axolotl is a small smiling amphibian that lives its entire life at the larval stage, which means that it never really grows up. In this picture book we possibly meet the last of its kind as he thrives in his own pool enjoying his life beneath the waves. But as it gets hotter, the pool gets cloudy, and everyone moves on. Poor axolotl is left all alone. One day a giant wave sweeps away everything, and the axolotl embarks on a journey to the great unknown. English edition was published spring 2022.
Runeberg Junior Prize jury 2022
Frank Furu
(b. 1984)
is based in Pietarsaari. You Are Not My Mother is his debut book, created together with illustrator Linda Bondestam. The touching story was inspired by his personal experiences and emotional encounters while working with refugee children for almost a decade.
You Are Not My Mother
(Ni är inte min mamma) Age 4+ | 32 pages | Förlaget M | 2021
A wistful picture book depicting a little refugee girl’s emotional journey. Aysha is on her own in a strange new place, Finland. Together with others she lives at a reception centre and goes to school. Everyone around her do their best to look after and comfort her. They are friendly, they cook and eat together with Aysha, talk to her and stroke her hair. But they are not her mother, heartbroken Aysha thinks to herself as she longs for her loved ones and familiar village life. Some days are good and some are gloomy, but there is always someone to comfort her and a lap to sit on, Aysha is not alone. This is an important and stopping story based on real events – a touching narrative by Frank Furu combined with Linda Bondestam’s delicate colour palette. The book was nominated for Runeberg Junior Prize 2022.
