Age group: 3+ years

Reading material:
Full English PDF
Finnish edition

The Secret Ones

Tuutikki Tolonen, illustrated by Anne Vasko

Unleash your creativity and discover the creatures who live right next to you in secret! This delightful picture book invites young readers to look at ordinary homes with new eyes.

✓ Encourages imaginary play & playful interactions between parents and children

✓ Tuutikki Tolonen is an Arvid Lydecken award-winning author whose Monster Nanny series has been sold into 37 territories!

✓ Anne Vasko is the recipient of the Rudolf Koivu illustration award 2010 and has been nominated for the Finlandia Junior 2010 and for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (2017 & 2021). Her books have been sold to over 20 languages.

This charming picture book invites its readers to play a game: could there be secret creatures, living side by side with humans in ordinary homes? They leave signs to those who know where and how to look.

Why are there crumbs on the kitchen floor? Perhaps you have a crumbscraper living with you! The creature itself is so shy, you can rarely see it. How about the holes in your socks; did you know they might be the result of a lintbug? And when the remote control is lost again, maybe the amnesianos have stolen it.

Age group: 3+ years

Reading material:
Full English PDF
Swedish edition

Stella

Ted Forsström, illustrated by Åsa Lucander

An interactive and playful bedtime story for toddlers featuring a very loud dog with a big imagination!

✓ A new, exciting collaboration between comedian Ted Forsström and Aardman director Åsa Lucander – nominated for the Finlandia Prize 2023 and rights sold to 7 languages!

✓ Dog Stella’s thoughts mimic the lively imagination of toddlers

✓ Features comforting routine and interactive fun: Toddlers will love to join in the repeating tongue twister telling dog Stella to behave

A father tries to put his child to bed, but keeps getting interrupted by Stella the dog, who starts barking hysterically. Something unexpected always happens, and the reader is treated to Stella’s lively imaginations: it may be a door opening or a car driving by, but Stella is strongly convinced it’s Grandma coming to give her food, or that squirrels have built a nest in the toaster.

Anyone who has ever tried to bring a child to bed knows how cozy yet fragile the situation is. It requires the right amount of patience and determination. The right bedtime story can be the key to a successful, quiet night.

There is a warm feeling, playful rhymes and an unusual mix of familiar ordinariness and fantastic antics. Clear recognition for anyone trying to combine cozy moments with a pet!

Stella is a book you can read again and again, night after night.

PET AGENTS – sarja
Tammi, 2019 -, ca. 176 pp., 4c illustrations

Age group: 7+

Reading material:
Full English translation (Book 1), English synopses & series presentation, Finnish PDFs

Pet Agents Series #10: The Hobby Horse Whisperer

Riina Kaarla, Sami Kaarla & Anders Vacklin

KATI-E is an independent girl who loves animals just as much as electronics and coding. TI-BOT is the flying robot Kati-e built. Together they are the PET AGENTS, and their mission is to solve pet problems!

✓ A delightfully illustrated series for robot fans and animal lovers alike!

✓ Over 60,000 copies sold in Finland

✓ Series already sold in 8 territories!

The Pet Agents series is a delightful series about friendship and pet care, filled with adventures. Each book – which can be read in any order – features new characters, locations, and pets from miniature pigs to virtual dinosaurs. Engaging, full of humour, and dealing with animal issues in a child friendly way, the series has charmed readers in Finland and internationally. 

Book #10:
The animal-loving Kati-e, robot Ti-bot, neighborhood friend Timi and the computer wizard X end up on a therapy farm, where the animals are in dire need of help. But to save the farm, Kati-e first needs to help a girl recovering from an accident to find her lost horse.

Also available:
#1: New Pets & New Friends!
#2: Tracking a Thief
#3: Charging Ahead
#4: Lost in the Game
#5: In Deep Water
#6: Snowed In
#7: Wild City
#8: Mission on the Moon
#9: Masters of the Jungle

LEMMIKKIFRENDIT- sarja
Tammi, 2022 -, ca. 128 pp., 4c illustrations

Age group: 5+

Reading material:
Full English translation (Book 1), English synopses & series presentation, Finnish PDFs

Pet Friends Series #5: Om

Riina Kaarla, Sami Kaarla & Anders Vacklin

A story of a young girl experiencing an unforgettable summer filled with pets and new friendships!

✓ Funny and adventure-filled 4-book series for animal lovers and robots fans alike!

✓ Fresh quirky 4-colour artwork

✓ Teaches children about animals and pet care

The Pet Friends series is a standalone prequel to hugely popular Pet Agents, telling the story of how Kati-e and Ti-bot became a team and solved their first agent missions. Aimed at a slightly younger age group, this is the perfect series to read with young animal enthusiasts!

Book #5: Om
In the fifth Pet Friends book the first grader Kati-e, who hosts the pet column in school magazine, becomes an investigating journalist together with her robot Ti-bot. They meet curious cats in the school, and sense a scoop! The cat-and-mouse game is like catnip to anyone who loves a proper adventure – or the purring of a cat!

Also available:
#1: Bit and Mode
#2: Mop
 #3: Bean
#4: Mir

Age group: 7+

Reading material:
Full English PDF
Finnish edition

Prankenstein

Kaisa Paasto, illustrated by Mari Ahokoivu

If you could become a prank legend at school, is it worth going for it at any costs? This highly illustrated, bold story encourages even the most reluctant reader to keep on turning the pages!

✓  A funny and prank-filled story with a subtle message about kindness and accepting yourself

✓  For fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid 

✓  From the successful author-illustrator duo behind the Anni the Friend Tamer series!

✓  Illustrator Mari Ahokoivu won the Puupäähattu Comic Book Award 2023 and has been nominated for the Finlandia Prize in 2021

✓  Sequel coming in spring 2025

The fifth grader Elmeri has never seriously considered a career as a prankster. But he manages to do a superbly great prank – completely accidentally. Elmeri’s cousin Robin thinks his chance has come and becomes Elmeri’s Personal Prankster Trainer. With his coaching, Elmeri will be the amazing Prankenstein and his best prank will be remembered by future generations!

Elmeri also realizes that pranks may be a good opportunity to impress Mima, who lives on the same street and is quite OK. The pranks also help when Leo, the bully at school, needs to be dealt with. But when a planned prank involves a famous magician and the president of Finland, Elmeri has to ask himself: can you take it too far?

Age group: 9+

Reading material:
English sample with illustrations
Finnish edition

The Secret Staircase

Salla Simukka, illustrated by JP Ahonen

What would you do if you found a secret room in your house? A story about friendship and two boys in two worlds.

✓  Grounded fantasy with a classic feel for fans of Michael Ende and Maria Gripe

✓  Salla Simukka is the recipient of the Topelius Prize 2013 and Finland Prize 2013 and has been nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award every year since 2021. Her Snow White trilogy was sold into 52 territories

✓  JP Ahonen is a comic book artist and illustrator whose unique Belzebubs project has achieved cult status internationally

An exciting and touching novel about two boys, who live in the same house but in different realities. Can their friendship cross the border separating two worlds?

10-year-old Alexis’ family moves to a house where he gets the attic room. Another 10-year-old-boy, Max, moves to a house, where a great basement room is waiting for him. Soon the boys notice something weird in their houses: Alexis hears voices under the floor, even though they don’t have a basement. Max’s ears pick up someone playing an instrument from the attic, even though no one is there.

When the two boys finally meet, they realize that they can visit each other’s worlds at night time. But will their friendship endanger everything when the worlds start to blur into each other?

Isämies ja kaksoisolentokatastrofi
Otava, April 2024, 176pp, 4c illustrations

Age group: 7+

Reading material:
English sample Book 4, English synopses books 1-5
Finnish editions

The Dad Man Series #5: Dad Man and the Doppelgänger Disaster

Arttu Unkari, illustrated by Kai Vaalio

The quirkiest cop in town! The Dad Man Series offers fast-paced adventures and humour for all ages – especially lower middle grade.

✓  Over 140,000 copies sold in Finland!

✓  Perfect for reluctant readers and for fans of David Walliams and Captain Underpants

✓  Books in the series have been nominated for the Storytel awards 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 (Best children’s audiobook), Best Newcomer of the Year 2020, and the Runeberg Prize 2023!

✓  Bold and fresh 4-colour comic-book style artwork that add visual jokes to the narration

✓  Work as standalones and can be read in any order!

Dad Man is a dad, and a policeman – but he also has a superpower! Too bad his superpower is one shared by almost all dads – an unwavering belief in himself and his own abilities. Dad Man truly believes he knows everything and can do anything, but as it goes with most dads, the reality is quite different. And it follows that Dad Man’s nine-year-old daughter Oona needs to solve all of the issues herself.

Book #5:
What’s worse than one Dad Man? Multiple Dad Men!
When Oona’s clumsy police dad gets his hand on the inventor Cherry’s newest machine, the results are catastrophic – suddenly the whole town is filled with Dad Man lookalikes!. And to make matters worse, the real Dad Man is lost among the copies. Oona and her friends need to find Dad Man before anything worse happens. That proves to be hard, for the group of Dad Men comes up with one stupid idea after another and the whole town is threatened with chaos. And a mysterious saboteur is tailing Oona and friends. Is someone trying to stop the world from becoming normal?

Also available:

#1: Dad Man and the Exploding Poop
#2: Dad Man and the Evil Little Brother
#3: Dad Man and the Horrible Hypnosis
#4: Dad Man and the Impossible Time Warp

MANTIKORAN
Förlaget, September 2024, tba pp., 4c illustrations

Age group: 10+

Reading material:
Full English text, first inside illustrations in March 

The Manticore

Maria Turtschaninoff, illustrated by Peter Bergting

A graphic novel and supernatural thriller that turns a young girl’s emotions into a magic-realistic fantasy adventure – can her new stepmother be trusted or is she a dangerous ancient monster?

✓  Maria Turtschaninoff is a two-time winner of the Society of Swedish Literature Prize, a winner of the 2014 Finlandia Prize and has been nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award every year 2020-2024! Her children’s and YA titles have sold to 30 languages.

✓  INHERITED LAND, Maria Turtschaninoff’s first adult fiction novel, has been awarded the prestigious Swedish YLE Literature Prize 2022 and sold to 23 languages

✓  Peter Bergting is one of Sweden’s most renowned comic book artists and fantasy and children book illustrators.

✓  The Swedish edition (Raben & Sjögren), will be publishing simultaneously as the Finnish and Finnish-Swedish editions (Tammi and Förlaget)

The Manticore is a middle-grade graphic novel. This supernatural thriller is told from the perspective of an unnamed protagonist who starts suspecting that her stepmother is in fact a Manticore, an ancient monster intending on devouring the protagonist and her baby brother. She realizes that no one can help her because no one would believe her. So as the Manticore starts fattening up the children, the protagonist hunts for a way to defeat her. She soon realizes that the only way to kill a Manticore is with a mythical object: the horn of a unicorn. But where can she possibly find one?

Age group: 9+

Reading material:
English sample book 1 & synopses books 1-3
Finnish editions

Benjamin Bateman Series #3: Benjamin Bateman and the Worst Day of School

Hannele Lampela, illustrated by Pasi Pitkänen

What if your superhero costume looked like a butterfly and your only superpowers would be having a good heart and a lively imagination? Welcome to the embarrassing life of Benjamin Bateman!

✓  First joint series for award-winning and bestselling writer-illustrator super team Hannele Lampela and Pasi Pitkänen!

✓  Film in development!

✓  Nominee for the Arvid Lydecken Award 2023

Benjamin Bateman is stunned when he finds out that he is part of a family of superheroes. Who would’ve believed that about poor Benjamin? Benjamin’s superhero costume is quite embarrassing though – a butterfly. And his superpower is even more mortifying – having a good heart and great imagination! But when Benjamin must battle the terrifying Mortem, his imagination will come in handy.

Book #3:
How will the super embarrassed superhero fare when the school turns into a rampage scene for his arch-nemesis? Paavali thinks that the math lessons are boring, and the exercises that teacher Sausola hangs on the board don’t make any sense to him. And it’s super embarrassing that he gets the feisty and attention-drawing Supermuija as his tutor. Could it be because of something other than Paavali’s terrible math skills? And why is the math problem 2+2+2 written on the school wall? What on earth is really going on?

Also available:
#1: Benjamin Bateman Super Embarrassed Superhero
#2: Benjamin Bateman and the Curse of the Mind-Popping Pranks

Age group: 12+ 

Reading material:
English sample & synopsis
Finnish edition

The Invisibles

Sanna Isto

A haunted house. An Invisible boy. A summer of mystery and self-discovery

✓  Grounded fantasy for the 12+ audience

✓  Nominated for the Finlandia Prize 2023 and Topelius Prize 2024

✓  Sanna Isto is a two-time winner of the Arvid Lydecken award (2012 & 2017) and was twice nominated for the Finlandia Prize (2017 & 2023)

Spending her vacation away from the city and her friends was not what Pii had in mind for the summer she had been eagerly waiting for. And then even the holiday house turns out to be strange and peculiar. Who is the boy who moves around the house as if it were his own, and why can’t anyone else see him?

Pii’s experience of being an outsider turns into a strength, because she sees things that others don’t notice. Soon she finds herself in the middle of a secret that overshadows the sunny idyll of the small village. Are the thefts of vacation homes and the unsolved death that happened half a year ago related? And what does the mysterious boy in the green cap have to do with all this?

Pii has to look for answers deep below the surface, and while diving for them, she also has to face herself. A vacation Pii expected to be boring turns into a journey of self-discovery, and in the end nothing – not even the ghosts – is what it seemed at first.

Age group: 14+ horror

Reading material:
English sample & synopsis
Finnish edition

The Horned God

Magdalena Hai

Creeping horror for the YA audience

✓  Winner of the Finlandia Prize for children’s and YA literature of 2023! Nominated for the Topelius Prize of 2024!

✓  Rights sold in 7 languages & a bestseller in Finland with over 6,000 copies sold

✓  Magdalena Hai’s books have been sold in over 27 territories and she has been nominated for several prestigious awards (Finlandia Prize, Nordic Council Literature Prize)

✓  Magdalena Hai is the winner of the Finnish Literary Export Prize (2017) and Kaarina Helakisa Prize (2020)

When death touches your life, everything changes.

Lauri wakes up in the hospital after a fatal car crash and he doesn’t remember much about it. Mom is dead and now life has changed drastically.

When Lauri starts his slow recovery in a small town at his aunt’s house, he has an unpleasant feeling that everything is not right. The dead don’t stay dead and the beautiful neighbor Vilja-Maaria doesn’t want to live. When an ominous creature with antlers appears behind the window, Lauri begins to see nightmarish dreams that feel too real.

NARAKA
WSOY, April 2024 , 500pp.

Age group: 15+ fantasy

Reading material:
English sample SANG & synopses both titles
Finnish editions

Sang & Naraka

Elina Pitkäkangas

An epic YA/crossover fantasy duology about love and power in a fictional East Asia of the future! When a person’s value is determined by money and happiness by family, what will be left when both are ripped away?

✓  Sang is the winner of the Topelius Award 2023, the City of Tampere Literature Prize 2023, and Kuvastaja Prize 2023!

✓  Praised by readers and critics for its convincing world-building, multifaceted characters and cinematic descriptions

✓  Rare representation of sign language in YA

Book #1: SANG
The state of Fusang is recovering from a war that ravaged the world. 16-year-old Kong Dawei, an earnest young man, is living in a poor mountain village and tries to pay his adopted siblings’ citizen dues by transporting contraband goods at night.
After a series of unfortunate events, Dawei ends up in the southern capital which is ruled by the cruel matriarch of the White Tiger Clan. When there is nothing else to lose, Dawei has only one goal: to get back to his loved ones – whatever it takes.
Sang is an addictive fantasy novel that travels through cold mountains and humid cities, noisy bazaars and opulent halls, and the world after the Black Rain, in which one’s value is measured in money.

 Book #2: NARAKA
Kong Dawei has returned to his home region, but nothing is the same. The second book of the duology, loved by readers and praised by experts, is a vivid and an intensive novel about war, morals, and ever holding love.
The sequel of the top-rated book SANG presents Fusang’s region Naraka, a workcamp where the unfortunate citizens are sent. The resistance is growing there. When Kong Dawei finds himself in the middle of The Iron Rebellion, he must face the boundaries of his loyalty. Whose side does he want to be on? Can there be winners in the war?

Age group: 3+ years

Reading material:
Full English PDF
Finnish edition

The Vole and The Moon

Mila Teräs, illustrated by Nora Surojegin

A charmingly sweet picture book about the beauty of living in the moment. Mila Teräs’ enchanting prose is accompanied by Nora Surojegin’s gentle illustrations.

✓ Mila Teräs was awarded the prestigious Kaarina Helakisa Prize in 2023!

✓For fans of Leo Lionni’s Frederick

✓ Books illustrated by Nora Surojegin have been translated into 10 languages

Millie the vole has a strange feeling. She is preparing for the upcoming winter well in advance. However, she feels like she has forgotten something. She is so busy planning and doing things that there is no time to go to watch the Moon and celebrate with other animals. When Millie decides to look up to the sky, she has to stop and stare.

The book tells of how important it is to stop: instead of the constant hurry and overachieving, it is important to pause and just exist without feeling guilty. At the same time, the book highlights what a wonder and secret life really is.

Age group: 3+ years

Reading material:
Full English PDF
Finnish edition

The Fox and Silence

Reetta Niemelä , illustrated by Eri Shimatsuka

A charming picture book about a sensitive fox and the need for silence.

✓ A new collaboration between the winner of the Arvid Lydecken Award 2022 Reetta Niemelä and textile artist and illustrator Eri Shimatsuka

✓ An important topic with appeal to all ages

✓ Teaches children about mental health and standing up for their individual needs

Once upon a time there was a fox the colour of a copper pot. It had very long and sensitive ears. Loud noises keep hurting the fox’s ears. It had to dig deeper and deeper into its den to rest its ears. Where does the fox find silence? How would the other creatures in the forest understand that the silence is like a hammock, where one can safely fall asleep?

This beautiful story discusses sensibility and the need for silence. The touching text by award-winning poet and children’s author Reetta Niemela is paired with charming illustrations by textile artist Eri Shimatsuka.

Age group: 5+ years

Reading material:
Full English PDF
Finnish edition

The Duck Who Was Afraid of Eagles

Veera Salmi, illustrated by Matti Pikkkujämsä

Riegel the Jumping Eagle just wants to bully others. What should the other birds do? A picture book about real courage.

✓ An important book about dealing with bullies

✓ The newest title from the author-illustrator duo whose joint work has been nominated for the Runeberg Junior Prize 2020, the Arvid Lydecken Prize 2020 and the Nordic Council Children’s and Youth Literature Prize 2020

✓ Illustrator Matti Pikkujämsä received the Kaarina Helakisa prize 2021, and was named Illustrator of the Year 2019 by The Finnish Illustration Association. He also won the Finnish State Prize for Illustrations in 2015 and the Rudolf Koivu Prize in 2013.

✓ Author Veera Salmi won the Kaarina Helakisa Prize in 2014 and was nominated for the Finlandia Junior in 2015

The life of the Duck and other birds in the Happy House is as soft and sweet as dessert dough. Until, one Wednesday, some eagles start building a ski jumping tower next to them.

What should the Duck do if he is too scared to stay, but also too scared to leave?

Independent sequel to the Nordic Council Award nominated picture book The Duck Who Was Afraid to Fly.

PRINSESSA PIKKIRIIKIN HIUKKASEN HURJAT SADUT
Otava, October 2022, 43pp

Age group: 3+ years

Reading material:
Full English PDFs
Finnish editions

Itty Bitty Princess picture books: Itty Bitty Princess and the Truth About Babies & Itty Bitty Princess’s Teeny Bit Terrific Fairy Tales

Hannele Lampela, illustrated by Ninka Reittu

✓ Itty Bitty Princess film is coming in 2024 – you can see the trailer here! Second film planned for 2025! 

✓ Rights for the bestselling standalone picture books featuring Itty Bitty Princess have been sold to 6 territories

✓ Hannele Lampela has been awarded the prestigious Kaarina Helakisa Prize for her work and she has been nominated for the Runeberg Junior award 2019, the Storytel Finland Award 2020, and Arvid Lydecken Award four times, most recently in 2023

Itty Bitty Princess is a mischievous, bold, and kind-hearted little girl with a mind of her own. If it’s finding out where babies come from or fixing “mistakes” and injustices in fairy tales, Itty Bitty never shies away from a challenge! Funny and narrated from the child’s perspective, the picture books in this series are guaranteed to enlighten young readers!

Also available – Itty Bitty Princess chapter books (40pp-80pp, 5+):
Itty Bitty Princess (2016)
Itty Bitty Princess’s Winter (2017)
Itty Bitty Princess’s Slightly Better Bedtime Stories (2018)
Itty Bitty Princess and The Horrible Injustice (2019)
Itty Bitty Princess’s Summer (2020)
Itty Bitty Princess’s Slightly Better Singalongs (2020)
Itty Bitty Princess Takes Over the World (2021)
Itty Bitty Princess and The Amazing Amusement Park (2023)

PAINAJAISPUOTI: KRISTALLIKALLON TAPAUS
WSOY, November 2023, 60 pp., 4c illustrations

Age group: 5+ years

Reading material:
Full English text

The Little Shop of Nightmares Series #4: The Crystal Skull

Magdalena Hai, illustrated by Teemu Juhani

A chapter book series full of quirky characters and inventive plotlines – workdays are never dull in the Little Shop of Nightmares

✓ Super success: rights sold in 30 territories!

✓ Mystery and horror paired with laugh-out-loud humour for younger middle grade

✓ With quirky 4-colour illustrations on every page, this series is perfect for first-time and reluctant readers!

✓ Magdalena Hai is the winner of the The Kaarina Helakisa Prize 2020

Nine-year-old Nina starts her job at the Little Shop of Nightmares where she meets a bunch of weird characters – and befriends them! Spooky, quirky, and full of humour, this series for younger middle grade readers ticks all the boxes – no wonder it has been translated in 30 territories! 

Book #4:
The Little Shop of Nightmares crew finds out that a pirate sailing competition is coming to town! Competing to be the fastest pirate ship are the Ghosts, the Zombies, the Sirens and the Better Pirates – all of whom want the Crystal Skull that has been given to Mr. Kook for safekeeping at the Little Shop of Nightmares.
When the Crystal Skull suddenly goes missing from the shop, little Nina and her friends start their investigation – and the suspects are a-plenty!

Also available:
#1 The Terrible Tickling Powder
#2 The Mystery of the Missing Teeth
#3 Sticky the Terrible Snowman

Age group: 9+

Reading material:
English sample Book 1, English synopses books 1-3
Finnish editions

The Secrets of Grimhill Trilogy
#3: The Guardians of the Shadows

Janne Malinen, illustrated by Teemu Juhani

A captivating middle-grade trilogy about being an outsider, of friendship, bravery, and loss.

✓  A mystery adventure trilogy where nothing is what it seems

✓  The atmospheric setting, strong characters and unique plotlines make this an irresistible read

✓  Trailers in English available

✓  For fans of Astrid Lindgren and Harry Potter

The Secrets of Grimhill is a mystery adventure trilogy for middle-graders. Respecting the old traditions of the genre, there are mysterious whispers and dark corridors – but also friendship and laughter.

Book #3:
The final installment of the trilogy sees darkness rising from the East. The fate of Grimhill is on the shoulders of three children.
A chilling cold creeps over the fields and the Grimhill Sanatorium is covered in snow. Oskar, Vilma and Robin walk tirelessly and defy danger as they wander deeper into the dark forest to save Krista. Time is running out, and the closer the children get to their destinationl, the darker and more threatening the shadows become. The trio needs to face the evil that lives in the forest, and eventually one of them is faced with a hard decision to make. But could there also be something good hidden in the darkness?

Also available:
#1: The Secrets of Grimhill: Seven Lily-of-the-Valleys
#2: The Secrets of Grimhill: The Blood Red Crystal

Age group: 7+

Reading material:
English sample and synopsis
Finnish edition

Stop Secret Mysteries: Stinker the Horrific Sock Monster

Ilona Ahti, illustrated by Miila Westin

A funny middle-grade mystery series for fans of Roald Dahl.

✓  Winner of the Runeberg Junior Honorary Prize 2024!

✓  Miila Westin is a Finlandia Junior Prize winning illustrator (2020) and her books have been sold into 14 languages!

✓  Ilona Ahti is an award-winning TV and film script writer and co-writer of the Oscar nominated film Girl Picture

✓  Independent sequel coming in fall 2024

The sock-trap has been set! A horrific sockmonster, Stinker, is on the loose!

In the opening of this charmingly funny middle-grade series, top-secret cases are being solved. Why are there only odd socks in the cabinet, and where have the hairclips and remote controls vanished?

The peculiar events begin when a strange creature snatches the last pair of socks from ten-year-old Hilla. She catches a glimpse of a fluffy, golden tail and finds a color-changing hair as evidence. A top-secret mystery must be solved, in which Hilla is helped by her neighbors Maisa and Roni-Toni. Hilla’s grandmother Mitsi clearly knows more than she’s telling, and in the end there’s an explanation for everything that no one would have expected…

MUSTAN KUUN MAJAKKA
Lasten Keskus, May 2023, 359pp, b&w & 4c illustrations

Age group: 7+

Reading material:
English sample book 1 & synopses books 1 & 2
Finnish editions

Black Moon Trilogy

Reetta Niemelä, illustrated by Katri Kirkkopelto

A magical middle-grade series irresistibly blending mythology and environmental protection!

✓  Winner of the Arvid Lydecken Prize 2022

✓  Nominated for the Finlandia Prize 2022 – Audience favourite!

✓  Illustrator Katri Kirkkopelto was nominated for the Finlandia Prize several times (2005, 2016, 2020) and is the winner of the Kylli Koski Prize 2009

✓  Author and poet Reetta Niemelä won the The Kaarina Helakisa Prize in 2011 and has so far been nominated for the Finlandia Prize three times!

Book #1: Black Moon Inn
The animal-loving Saimi Salaper and her veterinarian father move to the city of Bluehill in order to set up a hospital for wild animals there. By coincidence, they buy an old inn, where one can hear weird noises behind closed doors, see rare butterflies fly past on the yard, and, at the rooftop, there seems to be… a perch for dragons.
Little by little, the house reveals its secrets to Saimi, and soon the Black Moon Inn is open for creatures of the secret folk who seek refuge there: the trolls, the fairies, and many more. But there’s a threat lurking just behind a corner, and the Inn takes both Saimi and the reader on an exciting adventure into the world of the secret folk.

Book #2: Black Moon Lighthouse
Something truly mysterious is happening in Bluehill! A group called “Bedtime’s Ugliest Fears Forgotten: Orcs Out at Night”, which persecutes the secret folk, is circling the streets. Indeed, it seems that some folk have gone missing already! Saimi and her friends try to find out what it’s all about, but that is hard to do when adults are disturbing them. And if that wasn’t enough, a bunch of ghosts decide to celebrate the Kekri festival. Eventually the worst fears of Saimi and her friends come true: one of them disappears!
A dangerous operation begins, illuminated by the silver-coloured heartfires of dragons shining deep from within the ground. Is it possible that the ancient lighthouse would once more shine the beacons of the secret folk?

AINA PONOI
Otava, October 2023, 271 pp.

Age group: 9+

Reading material:
English sample book 1 & synopses books 1 & 2
Finnish editions

The Oboi Trilogy

Veera Salmi

In the city where nobody reads – can a book save the World? What about an orphaned boy who doesn’t believe in stories?

✓  A trilogy of standalone novels! Third titel coming soon!

✓  Veera Salmi is the bestselling author of over 20 titles, winner of the Kaarina Helakisa Prize 2014 and nominated for the Finlandia Junior Prize 2015!

Book #1: The Book of Oboi
A spectacular novel about a world where literacy has been decimated and a boy who does not believe in stories.
Thirteen-year-old Oboi has run away to find his former homestead. He ends up in a peculiar and disaster-stricken city where no one knows how to read. People are led by the mysterious Wanda, who, via devices hooked up to one’s palm, says what everyone should know or do. At a flea market, Oboi meets a woman who gives him a book. According to her, this book can change everything and help find what Oboi thought was lost forever. Suddenly the story-averse Oboi notices he has become the hero, that orphaned boy deemed to save the whole world.

Book #2: Aina Ponoi
A charming fantasy novel about Oboi who whilst searching for his lost sister ends up in an astonishing world of Aina Ponoi.
Could reading be super dangerous? Can a book be a freeway ticket to another world? Young Oboi doesn’t believe in stories, but ends up swept in one when he finds an entrance ticket in the middle of a mysterious book. The book takes Oboi to a strange fantasy world, Aina Ponoi, where he must find his sister.
Aina Ponoi is a place where everything is possible and Oboi is able to escape his worries – health troubles and his mother’s new relationship – for even a little while. A standalone sequel to The Book of Oboi.

Age group: 8+

Reading material:
English samples & synopses
Finnish editions

Mabel Merryweather Series

Noora Kunnas, illustrated by Teemu Juhani

A fast and funny middle grade mystery series by a Finnish children’s book author who loves Roald Dahl and crazy stories!

✓  Series sold to 9 territories!

✓  Winner of the Prix Chronos 2023 in Switzerland!

What happens when Pippi Longstocking meets Miss Marple? Meet the eccentric supergranny Mabel Merryweather in this middle grade mystery series full of quirky characters and hilarious plot twists!

#1 Mabel Merryweather and the Miniature Pirates

Supergranny, a singing rooster, and mischievous mini pirates – a new series begins!
Nick and Lilly’s visit to their rule-loving, child-hating uncle turns into an adventure as the children get to know their exciting, eccentric neighbor: Mabel Merryweather. Mabel and her friends are preparing for a flower arranging competition, when the town is hit by a jewel thief. Nick, Lilly, and Mabel have their own problems as Mabel’s decorative miniature pirates have come to life and are rummaging through backyards. And what happened to the main judge of the competition – a pop singer Monika who disappeared that same day? Something must be done to bring peace and order back to the town of Dalton.

Also available: 

#2 Mabel Merryweather and King of Thieves
#3 Mabel Merryweather and Cheesy Mystery
#4 Mabel Merryweather and the Crowbar Gala

Age group: 9+

Reading material:
English samples & synopses, German edition book 1
Finnish editions

Agnes Series

Tuutikki Tolonen, illustrated by Kati Vuorento

Weird dreams, a mysterious graveyard, and hidden keys – Agnes has to follow the clues to solve a long forgotten family mystery

✓  Winner of Luku Varkaus Award 2021!

✓  Nominated for Arvid Lydecken Award 2021!

✓  Honorable Mention for Runeberg Junior Award 2021

✓  Rights sold in 7 languages!

The Agnes series is a mystery series that will enchant middle grade readers and that deals with topics such as friendship, bullying, and change of family circumstances.

#1 Agnes and the Garden of Dreams
Moving to a new city is frightening enough for 11-year-old Agnes. But when she makes an exciting discovery at the local cemetery, the summer isn’t the same anymore! Everything began on that one summer day when Agnes walked through the cemetery gate. She had just moved to a boring new town and left behind her old home and friends. But then something strange happened and her life became more exciting than ever!
She finds a tombstone that has the name Agnes on it – and the same birthday as hers! From that day on, Agnes keeps having dreams of a girl who hides a key in a beautiful garden. When Agnes stumbles upon the same garden, she knows she must find the key. But what will it open?

#2 Agnes and the Mysterious Manor
Agnes’ adventures continue in this sequel that is both a ghost story and a family mystery. Agnes and her mother have inherited a beautiful old villa, but there seems to be something strange about it. There is a lovely scent of flowers in the air, even though there aren’t any flowers in the houses. Every morning, the lid of an old piano is found open even though no one has been playing it. More importantly, why can they hear steps on the staircase to the attic?

#3 Agnes and the Shadow in the Window
Agnes and her mother have moved into their mysterious manor where summer camps are held. Suddenly, drawings that no one claims to have drawn appear during an arts summer camp. A strange shadow is captured by Agnes’s camera, as if someone is standing next to the window in the empty room. Does the manor have more secrets to share?

Age group: 7+

Reading material:
Book 1: English edition
Book 2-3: English sample & synopsis, German editions
Finnish editions

Monster Nanny Trilogy

Tuutikki Tolonen, illustrated by Pasi Pitkänen

The Monstrous Mary Poppins – international bestseller with a Hollywood Film in development

✓  Rights sold in 37 territories!

✓  A feature film in development, co-produced by Ridley Scott!

✓  Monster Nanny is the winner of Arvid Lydecken Award 2016 and the Monster Nanny series was a Anni Polva Award nominee (2017)

✓  Tuutikki Tolonen is also the winner of the LukuVarkaus Award 2021 and has been nominated for the Arvid Lydecken Award 2021, the Anni Polva Award 2021, and has received an honorable Mention at the Runeberg Junior Award 2021

#1 Monster Nanny
The Hellman children have been sent a nanny to look after them while their mother is at a spa. The only problem? Their nanny is a monster.
Grah is hairy, dusty, and doesn’t talk. When the siblings discover that other neighborhood kids have been left with similar creatures, they start to wonder where the monsters came from. With the parents away, the kids work together (between bickering) to figure out the mystery of the monsters.

#2 Monster Route
Mimi, 6 years old, has snuck into the monsters’ underground world after her monster friend Grah. She travels in their tunnels, led by the odd Gatekeeper. Back at home, Koby and Halley put their heads together and manage to get in touch with Mimi. But who is the mysterious and frightening ruler of the monster world?

#3 Monster Message
The Hellman kids face new troubles. Mom and Dad want to move into a bigger home on the other side of the city. When Mimi finds crumpled leaves with strange markings in her room, they look like messages from the underground, but who’s delivering them and why? And why does the Gatekeeper of the underground world appear in their bathroom?

Age group: 15+

Reading material:
Full English translation
Finnish edition

In the Dark I Can Be Yours

Salla Simukka

If your love can only be a secret, will it last?

✓  Rights sold to Actes Sud in France!

✓  Queer love story acclaimed for its beautifully realistic narration!

✓  Salla Simukka is Finland’s most internationally bestselling author with the Snow White Trilogy sold in 52 territories!

Varpu and Saga are two sixteen-year-old girls that are forced to stay in their hometown for the summer. After just one drunken kiss, prejudice and identity are shattered and it’s revealed how, behind the facade, everyone hurts and loves the same. In The Dark I Can be Yours is a touching and beautiful title about great emotions in the summer.

The authentic characters are supported by Simukka’s light and airy narrative. Each side of the book tells one girl’s story, which effortlessly melts together into a summer of love, insecurities, and the exploration of two young people.

MISTÄ VALO PÄÄSEE SISÄÄN
Otava, November 2021, 320 pp.

KORENTO
Otava, December 2020, 387pp

Age group: 15+ dystopia, love story

Reading material:
English sample and synopsis
Finnish editions

Where the Light Comes In & Dragonfly

Anne-Maija Aalto

A captivating story of rebellion, hope, and humanity…

✓ Where the Light Comes in is a Finlandia Prize winner, Finlandia Prize audience favorite 2021, and winner of the Young Aleksis Award 2022!

✓  Dragonfly is a Topelius Prize Nominee 2020 & Young Aleksis Award Nominee 2021

✓  Rights sold to Editions Milan in France in a two-book deal!

Where the Lights Come In
Aleksei is a young man whose father runs a human research institute in Tokyo, which is now partly covered by the sea. New batches of test subjects regularly arrive at the facility, including one with Satomi, a young woman whose memory is set to be erased. Satomi becomes Aleksei’s trial case, since he is meant to continue his father’s work. But something is already churning beneath the surface, and the younger generation can see the horrors of the system their parents have created.

Dragonfly
A shocking, brilliantly told story about resistance in an unequal society.
Two young women, Satomi and Mai have always stuck together. They were born in an internment village on an island that was called Japan before sea level rose. They are non-citizens whose purpose is to serve full citizens.
On good nights they go to the seaside together to wade. They still have that, even if everything else has been taken away from them. Then Commander Rafikov takes Mai to make her a Nymph. And Satomi can’t just wait anymore.

Age group: 14+

Reading material:
English sample & synopsis
Finnish edition

My Ugly Diary

Mari Kujanpää

A contemporary and touching YA novel about the courage to be yourself and finding your own people

✓  Mari Kujanpää won the Finlandia Prize in 2009

✓  Deals with body image, bullying and the pressure on teenagers to always be Instagram-ready

 “Everyone else has a purpose, and they always walk without looking at their surroundings. Someone’s waiting for them somewhere. I’m not going anywhere and I’m not expected anywhere. Yet my feet are moving me somewhere”.

Age 14, shoe size 42, height 175 centimetres, cup size AA and a hideously ugly face, that’s how Malva is defined. She knows she is ugly, and the other pupils remind her of it daily with words and looks. Malva escapes to art and nature. Then along comes Runo, who is passionate about the same things.

My Ugly Diary is a delicate story about how a bullied girl hating her own reflection slowly recovers from the anxiety of her looks. Everyone who has been insecure about their looks can relate to Malva’s experiences.

Finlandia award-winner Mari Kujanpää writes directly and sympathetically about subjects that touch young readers.

Age group: 13+

Reading material:
English pdf book 1, English samples books 1-2, & series synopsis
Finnish editions

Nordic Horror Series

A.R.S. Horkka

When the days are short, the nightmares are long. And your fears take a monstrous shape.

✓  YA horror series with 7 standalone novels with Nordic twist

The Nordic Horror series is a new horror series from the Nordics, where down-to-earth realism, northern darkness and cold, mystery, murder and mythology are woven together into a nightmarish drapery in the darkest corners of welfare society. But if you look more closely, there is also kindness, friendship and romance in the mix!

The series consists of 7 standalone novels that can be published and read in any order. Each novel introduces a new main character with a fast-paced, original, and fun-to-read plot from a different horror subgenre with a Nordic twist. Above all, each story is an honest and emotional study of its protagonists – of the fears that have made them who they are and how they still have to face their biggest fear of all, no matter what monstrous shape it takes.

Titles available:
Book # 1: The Shivering (June 2022)
Book # 2: The Clockwork Whisperer (August 2022)
Book # 3: The Stand-In (August 2022)
Book # 4: Murder Ballads (April 2023)
Book # 5: Children of the Midnight Sun (June 2023)

#2 NAONDEL
Förlaget 2016, 400 pp.

#3 BREVEN FRÅN MARESI
Förlaget 2018, 300 pp.

Age group: 14+ / crossover, fantasy

Reading material:
English PDFs
Finnish editions

The Red Abbey Chronicles

Maria Turtschaninoff

The Red Abbey Chronicles is a historically-inspired feminist fantasy saga, aimed at young adult audiences.

✓  Rights sold in 31 territories!

✓ Maria Turtschaninoff is a two-time winner of the Society of Swedish Literature Prize, a nominee for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, and winner of the 2014 Finlandia Prize!

✓  INHERITED LAND, Maria Turtschaninoff’s first adult fiction novel, has been awarded the prestigious Swedish YLE Literature Prize 2022

#1 Maresi
The Red Abbey is a refuge for women and girls where everyone pursues their own areas of interest. Maresi prefers to spend her time reading and learning. Everything changes when the frightened Jai arrives on the island. She has seen her sister get buried alive for speaking to a young man, and her father and a crew of thugs are after her. Maresi and her friends have to fight to defend both Jai and their community.

#2 Naondel
An independent prequel to Maresi, Naondel tells the story of the First Sisters – founders of the Red Abbey.

Imprisoned in a harem by a dangerous man with a dark magic that grants him power over life and death, the women must overcome their mistrust of each other in order to escape. But they can only do so at great cost, both to those who leave and those left behind.

#3 Maresi: Red Mantle
The third book is an epistolary novel that follows Maresi after she leaves the Red Abbey to establish a school in her oppressed home province of Rovas. The return to her Northern home, and fitting in, is not easy even with all the knowledge she’s bringing with her, but she is determined to triumph over the difficulties. However, she does not need to make it alone, for life has yet another surprise in store: love.

Age group: 6+ years

Reading material:
English sample, Spanish sample
Finnish editions

Travels in Time: How the Telephone Became Smart

Pinja Meretoja

How did one machine come to feature thousands of years of technology? 

✓  A beautifully illustrated title about everyday inventions and their origins!

The smartphone includes a huge amount of functions that are the result of hundreds and thousands of years of progress. How did all these discoveries end up in a child’s pocket? Travels in Time delves into this mystery in a fun but precise way.

Lucy visits a second-hand store with her aunt. When Lucy doesn’t recognize all of the objects there, she comes up with imaginative ideas as to what their use might have been. A generation that has access to all sorts of tools in one device might not know about the past importance of all the appliances.

Travels in Time is a visual and easily approachable non-fiction title that presents to children the history of different inventions, such as writing, the camera, the radio, the computer, and many others. It also invites adults to have discussions with younger generations about their experiences growing up – how one had to wait for their turn on the phone when a sibling was chatting with friends, how the modem used to be slow or what songs one used to record on a cassette tape. Sounds familiar? Delve into the past and discover something new!

Age group: 5+ years

Reading material:
Full English PDF
Finnish edition

I’ll Become a Researcher

Tero Mielonen, illustrated by Mari Ahokoivu

Anyone can become a researcher!

✓  Have you ever wondered which children will grow up to be scientists? It’s kids like you!

✓  Mari Ahokoivu won the Tieto-Lauri Award in 2022, the Puupäähattu Comic Book Award 2023 and has been nominated for the Finlandia Prize in 2021!

South American Kat used to examine the starry skies with her father and now her job is to search for new planets. Marjane loved hunting for treasures, and she became an archeologist who solves the mysteries of ancient cultures. Eduardo loved playing video games. He did not become a professional gamer, but now he creates climate models and ponders what our world will be like in a hundred years. All kinds of people do science, and anyone can become a scientist!

#2 PIKKUTIETO: MENNÄÄN PIILOON
Karisto 2021, 20 pp.

#3 PIKKUTIETO: KASVIN MATKA
Karisto 2022, 20 pp.

Age group: 2+ years

Reading material:
Full English PDFs
Finnish editions

Mini Science Series

Laura Ertimo, illustrated by Sanna Pelliccioni

A science series for the smallest in the family!

Mini Science is a nonfiction series for the smallest in the family. The series tackles big science questions with lovely illustrations and encourages kids to wonder and ask questions. It feeds curiosity and is designed to start conversations about different topics that children might not think about on their own.

#1 WHERE ARE YOU

In Where Are You?, we follow Plop, a little creature who guides us through space to Earth and from there into human DNA and, finally, to the world of atoms. Zooming in all the way from the enormities of space to the minisculness of atoms, we learn a great deal in between.

#2 INVISIBLE WORLD

In the second title of the Mini Science series – Invisible World – the adorable character Plop will discover things one cannot see – electricity, a garden in the fog, darkness, microorganisms and other well-hidden things. When Plop gets sick, he learns about bacteria and viruses and how to avoid them. Vaccinations can seem scary, but they keep us healthy! Sometimes it’s better to stay home, even if it makes you bored, so that soon you can go off to discover the Dark Side of The Moon!

#3 TRAVELLING PLANTS

In the third title of the Mini Science series – The Travelling Plants – our adventurer Plop ponders a tricky question: if rooted to the ground, how can one travel? Plants are the foundation of the Earth’s living network. But they are not here just for animals and humans – plants have their own mysterious life, which, in the end, is not so different from ours. They grow, reproduce and send off their offspring, and indeed, even travel around the world.
The Travelling Plants shows how all of us are interconnected and need each other throughout life.