Tippukivitapaus

By Laura Ruohonen Erika Kallasmaa

A children’s poetry case! This poetry collection offers 33 bubbles of joy as it invites readers to a familiar anarchistic nonsense-spirited adventure to Licorice Lagoon, stalactite caves, stormy seas, and many other places. Amusing, bizarre, surprising with a hint of Nordic melancholy. There’s nothing ordinary in this world. The length, theme, style, story, and characters of the poems are diverse, each of them being one of a kind. Combined with handwritten titles, effect words and verses here and there support the story. The style of illustration is unpredictable and has a world of its own as it combines separate poems to an entirety of its own. Fans of the praised Allakka Pullakka book will recognize familiar characters that venture the book pages. A fast-paced journey with mischievous and wonderful poems and a firework of colours for all ages. A celebration of absurdism in the children’s book market. This is the third poetry collection by Laura Ruohonen and Erika Kallasmaa, the creators of the super popular Yökyöpelit and Allakka Pullakka collections. A modern-day classic that has inspired awarded theatre plays and music lyrics. A musical play adaptation for the Finnish National Theatre was presented in 2017, and Ruohonen’s playwright was awarded a year later with the Lea Award (best Finnish dramatic text) by the Finnish Playwrights and Screenwriters Guild.  

Publishing information

Year of publication

2017

Page count

42

Original title

Tippukivitapaus

Original language

Finnish

Original publisher

Otava Publishing Company

About the author

Laura Ruohonen (b. 1960) is one of the most prominent Finnish playwrights, a poet and director whose works have been translated into 27 different languages. She has been granted several awards, including Kordelin’s Literary Award and Pro Finlandia in 2010. Ruohonen has collaborated with awarded illustrators including Erika Kallasmaa and Linda Bondestam and published several highly praised and awarded illustrated poetry books. 

Author page

Erika Kallasmaa (b. 1969) is an award-winning artist, illustrator and graphic designer. She is a master of visual storytelling and her medium expands beyond the means of books and printed matters to theatre, television, architecture, performance arts and installations. Kallasmaa was awarded the Finnish State Prize of visual arts in 2013. She was awarded with an honorary mention at Mikkeli’s 12th Illustration Triennial in 2020. 

Author page

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