PRINSESSA RÄMÄPÄÄ & MÖRKÖTAIKA
Tammi, August 2024, 44 pp. 

PRINSESSA RÄMÄPÄÄ JA RIITATAIKA
Tammi, August 2021, 44 pp. 

PRINSESSA RÄMÄPÄÄ JA VESSASANAT
Tammi, August 2019, 44 pp. 

PRINSESSA RÄMÄPÄÄ JA TALVITAIKA
Tammi, September 2017, 48 pp. 

Age group: 3+ years

Reading material:
Finnish edition
English PDFs

Princess Rascal and the Dark Fairy

Elina Hirvonen, illustrated by Mervi Lindman

A picture book about being scared of the dark

✓ The Princess Rascal series shows the day-to-day challenges of families with children combined with a lot of warmth and humor!

✓ Rights to the series sold into 5 languages!

Would a crown of courage or a string of pearls with happy things help in the dark?

Beloved Princess Rascal is a little girl with big feelings and magical powers. The popular picture book series continues!

Princess Rascal stays awake all night, because there’s a monster under her bed. No one believes that, but Princess Rascal knows it’s true. She feels that no one else has such big worries and that no one else is even afraid of anything! Somehow this problem has to be solved: could there be something in Princess Rascal’s toy box that could help?

The Princess Rämäpää series by Elina Hirvonen and Mervi Lindman takes the reader on magical adventures that can be found right in the middle of everyday life, as long as you have enough imagination.

Also available:
Princess Rascal (2017)
Princess Rascal and the Potty Words (2019)
Princess Rascal and the Quarrel Spell (2021)

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.

✓ Czech rights sold!

✓ Encourages imaginary play & playful interactions between parents and children

✓ Tuutikki Tolonen is an Arvid Lydecken award-winning author and her 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 territories.

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 for 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’ll barely ever see it. And about the holes in your socks – probably a lintbug’s fault. Or 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 9 languages!

✓ Stella the dog’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 Stella to behave

A father tries to put his child to bed, but keeps getting interrupted by Stella the dog barking hysterically. Something unexpected always happens, and the reader is treated to Stella’s lively imagination: 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 put 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.

Stella is full of warmth, playful rhymes and an unusual mix of familiar ordinariness with fantastic antics. Very familiar for anyone trying to combine cozy moments with a pet!

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

Age group: 5+

Reading material:
English PDF
Finnish edition

Little Mouse’s School Picture Day

Riikka Jäntti

Little Mouse is all grown up! A new chapter book series featuring the protagonist from the beloved picture book series that sold into 21 territories!

✓ Introducing the beloved picture book character to young readers 5+!

The little mouse boy Hiiru, known from the beloved picture books, is ready for grade school where he’ll take on new adventures in illustrated chapter book form! What kind of mischief can happen during a normal school day?

Hiru and his friends are dressed up to get their pictures, and the class photo, taken that afternoon. Will the outfits stay clean until the shoot even though the kids are playing soccer and eating lunch? And what will happen to Hiiru when his head gets stuck in a chair right before the shoot?

This easy-to-read chapter-book series with black-and-white illustrations is cheerful and bursting with gentle humor. Little mouse and his friends will discover that when a problem is big, help is always nearby!

Book 2: Little Mouse and the Amazing Universe coming in spring 2025!

A small sneak peek…

Outer space is enormous and amazing!

Another adventure of a relatable little mouse as he goes to school. The kids receive an interesting school assignment from space. Which planet is the largest or smallest? Which one is the best of all?

Hiiru, Lyly and Antero are working together on a presentation about Mars. Grandpa also wants to help, but his book contains outdated information. What might Mars be like, and how many light-years away is it from Earth? Thinking about this makes Hiiru feel very small, even though the universe is such a fascinating place!

Also check out the Little Mouse Picture Book series!

Age group: 7+

Reading material:
English sample + synopsis
Finnish edition

Dad Man’s Idiotic Tales

Arttu Unkari, illustrated by Kai Vaalio

A Bedtime storybook from the DAD MAN universe

✓ Over 140,000 copies of the Dad Man Series have been sold in Finland!

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

✓ Dad Man Series sold in Germany and Denmark!

Dad Man’s fairy tales are anything but sleepy! Dad Man’s Idiotic Tales is a collection of 10 fast-paced and entertaining stories featuring the characters of the hugely popular Dad Man Series in entirely new adventures. All stories work perfectly as independent narratives and are accessible even for children who aren’t familiar with the book series yet. These Dad Man bedtime stories make it even easier for reluctant readers to discover the joy of reading.

MONTAKO YÖTÄ VIELÄ, PRINSESSA PIKKIRIIKKI
Jouluinen odottelukirja kaikille kärsimättömille
Otava, Fall 2024, 80 pp.

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

Age group: 3+ years

Reading material:
Finnish edition
English samples

Itty Bitty Princess Picture & Chapter Books:

How Many More Sleeps Until Christmas, Itty Bitty Princess?

A Christmas Calendar Book For All Impatient People

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 impatiently waiting for Christmas. And believe it or not, every single night a little elf peeks in the window and looks to see what Itty Bitty Princess has been up to!

The days counting down to Christmas can fit magic, cakes, and gingerbread – and many, many questions. Among other things, about elves, kindness and why some get much bigger gifts than others or why some get to be angels in the Christmas play and others have to be donkeys.

More about the Itty Bitty series: 

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 picture books (3+):
Itty Bitty Princess and the Truth About Babies (2022)
Itty Bitty Princess’s Teeny Bit Terrific Fairy Tales (2022)

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)

MANTIKORAN
Förlaget, September 2024, 96 pp., 4c illustrations

Age group: 10+

Reading material:
Full English PDF
Swedish edition

The Manticore

Maria Turtschaninoff, illustrated by Peter Bergting

A middle-grade 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?

✓ Danish rights to The Manticore sold!    

✓  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 highly illustrated middle grade novel. This supernatural thriller is told from the perspective of a young girl called Li,  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?

LASKE SALAA KYMMENEEN
WSOY, September 2023, 206 pp.

Age group: 8+

Reading material:
English sample
Swedish translation
Finnish edition

Count Silenty to Ten

Laura Lähteenmäki

A novel about friendship, growing up, and the importance of childhood play: a summer on the border between childhood and adolescence.

✓ Nominated for the Nordic Council’s Literature Prize 2024!

Myy, Viivi, Heta, Aada, and Camilla are a close-knit group of five girls who call themselves Pätkikset. But as the fourth grade draws to a close, Myy finds that something has changed. She feels that she’s no longer part of the gang. She notices that lively conversations fall silent when she approaches her friends. When the girls hug each other in a tight circle, there’s no room for Myy.

Count Silently to Ten is a story about friendship between girls and the changes that come about as you grow up, but which are difficult to accept. Myy is left out and feels that there may be something wrong with her, since she still wants to play and isn’t interested in make-up and growing up. As things become difficult with the girls, a new boy in the area provides a wonderful opportunity for Myy to throw herself into the world of play. Myy and Lassi run to a nearby forest and immerse themselves in a joint game where time and space disappear.

STOP SECRET. KURALÄTÄKÖN KUMMITUS
Tammi, September 2024, 144 pp.

Age group: 7+

Reading material:
English sample and synopsis
Finnish edition

Stop Secret Mysteries #2: The Mud Puddle Ghost

Ilona Ahti, illustrated by Miila Westin

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

✓ Book #1 won the Runeberg Junior Honorary Prize 2024 and was nominated for the LukuVarkaus award!

✓  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 film Girl Picture, which won the Sunday Film Festival Audience Award and was the Finnish submission to the Oscars 2022

Stop Secret‘s hilarious adventures continue!

In the second part of this entertaining middle grade series, a super-secret puddle mystery is solved. Hilla, Maisa and Roni-Toni’s stumble across a bottomless puddle of water, which swallows the friends’ football. The Stop Secret Crew is needed again, and Mitsi, the world-traveling grandma, and the incredibly funny Sock Monster also join to help. There are going to be wild twists, swinging dancing feet and a lot of turning before the puzzle is solved…

Also available:
Stop Secret Mysteries #1: Stinker the Horrific Sock Monster

PRANKENSTEIN
Tammi, March 2024, 112 pp., b&w illustrations

Age group: 7+

Reading material:
Full English PDF of Book 1 
Full English text of Book 2 
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!

✓ Rights sold in Poland and Latin America!

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

✓A national bestseller, 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: Bride of Prankenstein!

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?

Book #2: Bride of Prankenstein:

The very popular Prankenstein is back! Well, not quite. Since the whole debacle last spring Elmeri has sworn off pranks. Elmeri was excited for the big trip to Stockholm with Mima (the girl next door who’s “ok”). But now, as punishment, Elmeri is banned from going!

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 53 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

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.

✓ Rights sold in Germany and Denmark!

✓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 the problems herself.

Available titles: 

#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
#5: Dad Man and the Doppelgänger Disaster

UNOHDETTUJEN KIRJA
Otava, October 2024, 320 pp.

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

The Book of the Forgotten

Anne-Maija Aalto

A stirring image of a future world where humanity is in danger of disappearing by Finlandia Winner author

✓ The final installment of the award-winning Dragonfly trilogy!

✓  Prequel, Book 2 Where the Light Comes in won Finlandia award and Young Aleksis Award winner!

✓ Book 1 Dragonfly was nominated for the Topelius Prize and the Young Aleksis Award!         

✓ French editions to published by Editions Milan! Rights sold also to Hungary! 

Having escaped from the cruel and oppressive Union, Mai has spent months in a refugee camp, with no information about the fate of her beloved Satomi and the family she left behind. Eventually, she catches a glimpse of Satomi in the news. Satomi’s situation is desperate, as her memory has been wiped clean in a human research institute. When Mai is presented with an opportunity to try and change the inevitable course of events, she seizes it without hesitation.

Also available in the Dragonfly trilogy: 

Book #2: 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.

Book #1: 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+ horror

Reading material:
English sample & synopsis
Norwegian edition
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 8 languages & a bestseller in Finland with over 6,000 copies sold

✓ Magdalena Hai’s books have been sold in 30 territories and she has been nominated for several prestigious awards such as 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 + synopsis of SANG
Synopsis of NARAKA
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?

✓ Rights sold in Germany, Denmark, and Turkey!

✓ 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?

ME KETTUSET
Into, August 2020, 48 pp., 4c print

Age group: 4+

Reading material:
Finnish edition
Full English PDF

Meet the Fox Family

Animal Family Series: Fun & Facts

Hannu Laakso

Through intimate and vibrant photographs, follow the adventures of a fox family – and learn.

✓ Hannu Laakso is a renowned photographer, having won over 130 international awards!

✓ Hannu Laakso’s Fun & Facts book series received an award from the Finnish state in 2023

✓ English pdf with amazing photographs available! 

What does the fox family’s summer entail? Some quirky fun and playful lessons, for a start! Meet the Fox Family combines animal education with a fictional story to match. Readers will join these adorable foxes in their daily adventures, watching as the small pup grows up and becomes independent. At the same time, readers learn facts about foxes and their way of life. What do fox pups eat? What’s it like seeing the surrounding world through their eyes – literally? And why does a fox’s den smell?

This story presents the life of a seven-member fox family living on the outskirts of the city from spring to autumn. We see the joys and sometimes hardships, without forgetting the humor. Meet the Fox Family helps readers understand nature with an up-close view of these lovable foxes.

COMING SOON: Meet the Reindeer Family (in English)

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.

PAINAJAISPUOTI: KRISTALLIKALLON TAPAUS
WSOY, October 2024, 60 pp., 4c illustrations

Age group: 5+ years

Reading material:
Full English text

The Little Shop of Nightmares Series

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

When Nina, 9 years old, enters The Little Shop of Nightmares in hopes of getting a job, she is greeted by an odd sight: shopkeeper Mr. Kook is rolling on the floor, unable to stop laughing.

#2 The Mystery of the Missing Teeth

Nina goes to buy ice cream after her first work day at The Little Shop of Nightmares. But at the ice cream shop she discovers a vampire – without teeth!

#3 Sticky the Terrible Snowman

The Little Shop of Nightmares is getting buried in snow! Nina and Paddy are trying to find the cause of the snowstorm, but that’s easier said than done.

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

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. 

#10: The Hobby Horse Whisperer
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

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!

#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

PAAVALI PATTINEN – VIHOVIIMEINEN KOULUPÄIVÄ
Otava, May 2024, 128 pp., 4c illustrations

PAAVALI PATTINEN – VIHOVIIMEINEN KOULUPÄIVÄ
Otava, 2023, 144 pp., 4c illustrations

PAAVALI PATTINEN – SUPERNOLO SUPERSANKARI
Otava, 2022, 151 pp., 4c illustrations

Age group: 9+

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

Benjamin Bateman Series

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!

✓ Award-winning and bestselling series by writer-illustrator super team Hannele Lampela and Pasi Pitkänen!  

✓ Newest title Benjamin Bateman and the Worst Day at School!

✓  Film in development! Published in Denmark!

✓  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.

NEW #3:Benjamin Bateman and the Worst Day of School
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: 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!

#4 Mabel Merryweather and the Crowbar Gala

The fourth title in this cracking detective series for middle-grade readers. Nick and Lilly go camping and birdwatching on an island. The news reports say that a bunch of bandits have escaped from prison. The old factory building on the opposite shore is being used for organizing the Crowbar Gala, in which awards for the most successful bandits are given out. Without the wits of Nick, Lilly, and the mighty Mabel Merryweather, these goons would be able to continue with their mischief

Available titles: 

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

MÖRKÖVAHTI sarja
Tammi 2015-2020, 300 pp., b&w illustrations

Age group: 7+

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

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! Published in Estonia!

✓ 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!

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.

Available titles:
#1: Black Moon Inn Book 
#2: Black Moon Lighthouse

WAARALINNAN SALAISUUDET 3: VARJOJEN VARTIJAT
Tammi, June 2024, 300 pp., b&w chapter headings

WAARALINNAN SALAISUUDET 2: VERENPUNAINEN KRISTALLI
Tammi, June 2023, 288 pp., b&w chapter headings

WAARALINNAN SALAISUUDET 1: SEITSEMÄN KIELONLEHTEÄ
Tammi, June 2022, 352 pp., b&w chapter headings

Age group: 9+

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

The Secrets of Grimhill Trilogy

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.

Oskar is a perfectly average boy living with his parents in the red brick house by the biggest market square in the city. Everything changes when he is diagnosed with a serious illness. His parents send him to the remote Grimhill sanatorium, which from the very first moments feels suspicious and off-putting – and the staff don’t make it better. They’re definitely hiding something. Together with his new friends Robin and Vilma, Oskar gets pulled into a compelling adventure as they try to find out what is behind the ominous voices in the night. And what is hiding within the cold forest which seems to enchant the children?

3#: The Secrets of Grimhill: The Guardians of the Shadows
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: 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 her strength, as 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 in the search must also 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 seems.

Age group: 15+

Reading material:
Full English translation
French edition
Finnish edition

In the Dark I Can Be Yours

Salla Simukka

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

✓  Published in France by Actes Sud!

✓  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 53 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 tumultuous 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.

#2 NAONDEL
Förlaget 2016, 400 pp.

#3 BREVEN FRÅN MARESI
Förlaget 2018, 300 pp.

Age group: 14+ / crossover, fantasy

Reading material:
English 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: 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 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!

✓ Rights to the series recently sold to China!

✓  Sanna Pelliccioni is an awarded illustrator, and the only Finn named on IBBY honour list in 2022! 

✓ Laura Ertimo is the star of Finnish non-fiction for childrens and her books have been sold in 18 countries. She has won the Tietopöllo Prize (2020) and the Tieto Lauri Award (2022) and was nominated for the Finlandia Award (2021)!

Mini Science is a non-fiction 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.

AIKA MATKA! LOTTA, KASPER, JA LUONTOKADON ARVOITUS
Into, July 2021, 48pp

IHME ILMAT
Into, November 2019, 48pp

Age group: 9+ years

Reading material:
English edition of WEIRD WEATHER
English sample+ synopsis
Finnish editions

Lotta & Kasper:

Weird Weather

Where Did the Animals Go? 

We Are Powerful!

Laura Ertimo, illustrated by Mari Ahokoivu

✓  Weird Weather sold to 18 territories and published in the US!
✓ Mari Ahokoivu and Laura Ertimo won the Tieto-Lauri Award in 2022 for WHERE DID ALL THE ANIMALS GO? and have been nominated for the Finlandia Prize in 2021
✓ Laura Ertimo is the star of Finnish non-fiction books for children and her books have been sold in 21 countries!
✓ Mari Ahokoivu won the Puupäähattu Comic Book Award in 2023

Weird Weather:
This book answers children’s tough questions about climate change, and explains how we can all fight against it.

Where Did All The Animals Go:
Animal extinction and the environmental crisis explained for children.

We Are Powerfull:
Newest title by the Tieto-Lauri awarded duo Laura Ertimo and Mari Ahokoivu, tackling the question of power into something easily understandable by children!