We are continuing our creative literary interviews series with HLA’s writers! Read here a touching interview with Minna Eväsoja, the author of Wabi and Sabi. Meditation journal, revealing how a girl from a small Finnish factory town ended up presenting Finnish healthcare system to the Crown Prince of Japan. And of course, the entertaining questionnaire!
(Photo: Marek Sabogal)
Sanna Pelliccioni’s wordless children’s book We Had to Leave has been a subject of research within the international community.
The book has been chosen to “DIALLS: DIalogue and Argumentation for Cultural Literacy Learning in Schools” research project, led by the University of Cambridge and ongoing in several European countries, to research how children engage in discussions where they may have differing viewpoints and how wordless books can help to grow awareness of their own cultural identities.
The book was also recently presented in the five-day conference of the International Research Society for Children’s Literature in Stockholm. The conference gathered over 500 participants from ca. 50 different countries. One of the participants has commented that Pelliccioni’s book has received a spontaneous “Wow!” among the usually rather critical audience.
University of Helsinki researcher and teacher Jaana Pesonen, who held the presentation about the book (‘We Had to Leave‘– Voicing the refugee experience in a wordless picturebook), was glad to see that it received so much interest from the academics, among others, from Evelyn Arizpe who was named the new president for the IRSCL board. Arizpe mentioned Pelliccioni’s book in her own presentation.
We are very proud that Finnish children’s titles are considered to be the etalon of quality and have a notable role in the education research and practice around the world. Congratulations to Sanna Pelliccioni!
(Photo: Loviisa Kangas)
We are continuing our creative literary interviews series with HLA’s writers! Read one with Karin Erlandsson, the author of the magical Song of the Eye Gemstone series. Find out here, what is the secret of the series popularity among young readers and at what profession Karin would do really terrible. And of course, the entertaining questionnaire!
Photo: Matilda Saul
We are continuing our creative literary interviews series with HLA’s writers! This time it’s J.-P. Pulkkinen, the author of crime novel Vantaa – Large Blue, a Finnish literary version of The Wire series. Find out here, how Vantaa City is different than anything else in Finland and who is J.-P.’s superhero in the book. And of course, the entertaining questionnaire!
Photo: Heini Lehväslaiho
A hilarious collaboration of two celebrated children’s authors, Malin Klingenberg and Sanna Mander, has started its journey around the world. Life of Fart (2019) has immediately caught the eye of foreign publishers and has now been sold to Pushkin Press in UK and Rabén & Sjögren in Sweden.
Life of fart is an honest verse book that takes the young readers on a fun adventure exploring a phenomenon that many adults find tricky to talk about without getting embarrassed. With its vivid language and hilarious illustrations the book is a delight to the children who are constantly pondering curiosities of our daily life that no one is willing to explain to them.
Mander’s earlier collaboration (in 2018) with Anna Sarve was a huge success: she made an entrance into nonfiction with an adorable, colourful and intriguing The Spectacular Book of Princesses. The book has recently been published in Hungary and already gained some exciting reviews!
Meanwhile, Klingenberg’s quirky and funny six-book series for the middle grade readers, The Senior Squad , praised for its crazy humour and action-filled plot sold over 11,000 copies in Finland so far.
Congratulations to both authors! World conquer begins!