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Findus and Pettson Series

Findus and the Christmas Tomte

Sven Nordqvist
Illustrated by Sven Nordqvist
Translated by Nathan Large
Hardback
October 2018
9781907359934
More details
  • Publisher
    Hawthorn Press
  • Published
    15th October 2018
  • ISBN 9781907359934
  • Pages 130 pp.
  • Size 7.5" x 9.84"
$28.00

“In Sweden, where Findus and Pettson live, it is not Father Christmas who brings children their Christmas presents but the Yule Tomte (Jultomten). ‘The Tomte,’ as Swedes call him, is shorter and thinner than Father Christmas and is sometimes seen riding on a goat. He prefers to deliver presents right through the front door. Instead of stealing into the house at night, he comes after dinner on Christmas Eve and asks directly, ‘Are there any good children here?’” (from the book)

Snow is falling on Pettson’s farm, and Christmas is approaching. Findus, the talking cat, tells Pettson that he is excited about the Yule Tomte’s visit and gifts. “Oh dear!” thinks Pettson, “How can I explain that the Yule Tomte may not visit cats?

Findus, however, is adamant that the Yule Tomte must visit, and because Pettson does not want to disappoint Findus, he comes up with a plan to build a Yule Tomte that can move and speak and give Findus gifts—but it is going to be very difficult to keep this secret from the curious cat, and even harder to design a convincing mechanical Yule Tomte! What Pettson needs is a little bit of Christmas magic...

Findus and the Christmas Tomte is a longer Findus book for your collection, with 17 chapters over 130 pages, with Sven Nordqvist’s engaging illustrations throughout.

Sven Nordqvist

Sven Nordqvist (b. April 30, 1946) is a Swedish writer and illustrator of children's books and is known best for his series Pettson and Findus, about old farmer Pettson and Findus, his talented cat. Nordqvist was born in Helsingborg and grew up in Halmstad, Sweden. He originally wanted to be an illustrator but was rejected by several art schools, so he studied architecture at Lund Institute of Technology and worked for a while there, lecturing on architecture. Meanwhile, he continued to look for work as an illustrator of advertisements, posters, and picture books. In 1983, he won first prize in a children's book competition and since then has worked exclusively as an author and illustrator of children's books. During his career, Nordqvist has received awards in Sweden and Germany. His Pettson and Findus books are especially popular in Germany, where the characters are known as Pettersson and Findus. In Danish they are named Peddersen and Findus. In Finnish they are Pesonen and Viiru, and in a few English translations, Festus and Mercury. In 2007, Sven Nordqvist won the Augustpriset literary award in the children's books category, for his book Var är min syster? (Where is my sister?). In 1992, he won the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis (German Youth Literature Prize). He is married and has two adult sons.