Norwegian children's books' authors and illustrators are making their mark on the international scene.
”The first time I read Maja’s text, I thought it was so beautiful that I started to cry.”
"I’ve actually been very surprised by the reception my books have had, because I think my illustrations are a bit odd. But perhaps I’m not as odd as I thought. My drawing style is sensitive and that has obviously made an impact with some people.”
Over the past few years, Lisa Aisato has established herself as one of Norway’s best-known illustrators. It’s an understatement to say that her books have “made an impact with some people”: Aisato has won a large following with her illustrations of both other people’s books and her own writing, and her colourful illustrations have also attracted attention outside Norway. Jenta som ville redde bøkene (The girl who wanted to rescue the books) by Klaus Hagerup, illustrated by Aisato, is a good example of this. To date the book has been sold to 22 countries.
“It’s absolutely fantastic and great fun. After all, people who work with books love books, and that book is about loving books. So I understand why publishing people like it,” says Aisato, in explanation of the widespread international interest.
Several of Aisato’s other books have also travelled outside of Norway. Snart sover du (Soon You’ll Be Sleeping), En fisk til Luna (A Fish for Luna), Odd er et egg (Odd is an Egg) and Fugl (Bird) have all been sold in seven languages.
Book with Maja Lunde
This autumn, Aisato has a new book out with Maja Lunde. Lunde made her international breakthrough with Bienes historie (The Story of Bees), which has been translated into over 30 languages and was Germany’s top-selling book last year. With Lunde’s texts and Aisato’s drawings, it’s hardly bold to predict that Snøsøsteren (The Snow Sister) will find itself on the best-seller list this autumn.
“The first time I read Maja’s text, I thought it was so beautiful that I started to cry. And then I got performance anxiety about whether my illustrations would do justice to the text. But I hope I’ve managed it. I’ve tried to make ‘timeless illustrations’, with a melancholic feel.”
Snøsøsteren is a Christmas tale in 24 parts, which has been compared to classic Christmas stories like A Christmas Carol. It’s about Julian, who thinks that Christmas has been cancelled because his parents are grieving over the death of his older sister, Juni. But when Christmas-loving Hedvig turns up, Julian recovers his Christmas joy. But there’s something mysterious about the house where Hedvig lives …
“I think the book is very exciting and very beautiful, and I truly look forward to sharing it with people. It’s a real page-turner, so it’s going to be difficult for people to read only one chapter a day,” Aisato says.
Rather spoiled illustrators
Several Norwegian picture books have garnered attention abroad – and Aisato thinks this is thanks to the positive conditions in Norway.
“In Norway, we’re probably a bit spoilt, what with Arts Council Norway’s book procurement scheme and the cultural support; this means that we illustrators are allowed to experiment a bit by our publishers, who aren’t so concerned about being very commercial. It’s fine to be grotesque and odd, and to write about topics that may be taboo in other countries. I think this gives us an edge on the rest of the world.”
She’s keen to strike a blow for some Norwegian illustrators she thinks more foreign readers ought to discover:
“I really like Svein Nyhus and Gro Dahle,” Aisato says. Nyhus and Dahle, a husband-and-wife team, have collaborated on several picture books, which often deal with taboo subjects. Their books have been sold to 16 countries and Angry Man is among the titles that have attracted particularly strong international attention. But whereas Angry Man was about fathers reacting with anger, the mother is the scary one in this autumn’s book, The Dragon.
“Camilla Kuhn also does a lot of lovely work and deserves more attention. I think Gorm er en snill orm (Gorm is a Kind Worm) is really cool, and the same goes for Lunda på rideskole (Lunda Goes to Riding School). I laugh every time I read it,” Aisato says. So far, Kuhn has been sold to Denmark and Sweden.
A universal story
Håkon Øvreås is another Norwegian children’s author who has achieved considerable success with his picture books both in Norway and abroad. His Brown, Black and Blue books (Gyldendal/Gyldendal Agency) are illustrated by Øyvind Torseter, and are about three children who are superheroes and eventually become super-friends, too. To date the books have sold to 30 countries.
Øvreås is surprised by their reception himself:
“Øyvind and I both think the international interest has been really puzzling. Both of us come from small places in Norway and were thinking about our respective hometowns when we were writing and illustrating. The fact that these small communities have made their mark abroad must show that we’ve created a universal story.”
Brown was an instant hit both in and outside Norway when it came out in 2013. Øvreås wasn’t actually planning any follow-ups to that book – but that was before he got to see Torseter’s illustrations.
“The drawings were what made me want to carry on writing this series. When I saw Øyvind’s drawings, they made me feel like giving life to the other characters.”
Comparisons with the classics
“Norway produces really good picture books, and the standard is extremely high,” Øvreås says, giving special mention to Anna Fiske as an illustrator he is particularly fond of.
Fiske has produced a number of best-selling picture books, some based on her own texts and some in which she has provided illustrations for other authors. She has received several prestigious prizes for her work. She is best known for her Hallo books, which are large look-and-find books covering different topics. Fiske has also garnered international attention and her books have been sold to nine countries.
Maria Parr is described as “the superstar of Norwegian children’s literature” by her publishers, and that isn’t far from the truth. She made her debut in 2005 with Waffle Heart (Samlaget/Hagen Agency), but her big breakthrough came in 2009 with Tonje Glimmerdal. This book earned her the Brage Prize, the Mrs Pepperpot Prize and the Critics’ Prize. She also won the prestigious Brage Prize for Keeperen og havet (The Goalie and the Sea) in 2017. Parr’s books have been translated into 31 languages and she has been compared to Johanna Spyri and Astrid Lindgren.
Simon Stranger and illustrator Helena Lindholm’s Kokotopia (Cuckootopia) has also been compared to modern classics. Kokotopia is the first book in a series that will take an entertaining look at world history, and which has been described as the Treehouse series meets Once Upon a Time a Man. This isn’t an unreasonable comparision, especially considering that Stranger translated the Norwegian versions of Andy Griffiths’ books. In Kokotopia Stranger and Lindholm have literally written themselves into the history books: in the first book of the Kokotopia series the reader follows the characters, Helena and Simon, on their journey through the Middle Ages. The second book is scheduled for publication in 2019 – and in that one, Helena and Simon will go back to ancient history.
For the very smallest
Åshild Kanstad Johnsen was one of Norway’s biggest picture book exports in the early part of this decade. Since debuting with Block Makes a Museum (Gyldendal/Gyldendal Agency), her stories about Block the little tree stump have sold to 15 countries.
Kari Stai is another critically acclaimed picture book writer, best known for her books about Jakob and Neikob (Yesper and Noper) (Samlaget/ Hagen Agency). Stai won the Culture Department’s prize for debut authors, as well as the Brage Prize and the Critics’ Prize for her books about the two good but very different friends. This autumn, Stai publishes her fifth book about the pair, Jakob og Neikob og Alle Andre (Yesper and Noper and All the Others).
The Billy Goat Gruff books have been Norway’s biggest picture book success in recent years. The three books in the series are based on the classic folk tale about the three Billy Goats Gruff who want to get to the summer pastures to fatten themselves up. But in their books, Bjørn F. Rørvik and illustrator Gry Moursund have sent the goats to the Waterpark and the classroom instead. The books Bukkene Bruse på badeland (The Billy Goats Gruff Go Swimming), Bukkene Bruse vender tilbake (The Return of the Billy Goats Gruff) and Bukkene Bruse begynner på skolen (The Billy Goats Gruff Go to School) (Cappelen Damm / Cappelen Damm Agency) have been sold to nine countries and in Norway, the Billy Goats Gruff series has sold a combined total of more than 400,000 copies.